146207
California Historical Society
Quarterly
Volume XXVIII
1949
146207
CALIFORNIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY
SAN FRANCISCO
CONTENTS OF VOLUME TWENTY-EIGHT
NUMBER 1 MARCH 1949
Page
Anton Roman i
By Madeleine B. Stern
Dates of Palou's Death and Lasuen's Birth Determined 19
By Maynard Geiger, O.F.M.
California: A Possible Derivation of the Name 23
ByA.E.Sokol
Paradox Town 31
San Francisco in 1 85 1
By Julia Cooley Altrocciii
Thomas Vincent Cator (Concluded) 47
Populist Leader of California
By H. F. Taggart
Documentary ^6
Bound for the Land of Canaan, Ho! (Concluded) 57
Edited by Marco G. Thorne
The Second Incumbency of Jacques A. Moerenhout (Continued) . . 69
Translated and edited by A. P. Nasatir
Recent Californiana 80
News of the Society 82
Marginalia 92
NUMBER 2 JUNE 1949
Fage
The Hudson's Bay Company in San Francisco 97
By Anson S. Blake
Larkin to Atherton 113
Edited by A. T. Leonard, M.D.
Documentary 116
Ogden's Report of His 1 829-30 Expedition 117
Edited by John Scaglione
California for Hungarian Readers 125
Letters of J anos Xantus, 1857 and 1859
Edited by Henry Miller Madden
Preservation of the State Archives 143
By J. N. Bowman
The Second Incumbency of Jacques A. Moerenhout (Concluded) . .151
Translated and edited by A. P. Nasatir
Costs of the Modoc War 161
By Richard H. Dillon
The Mythical Johnston Conspiracy 165
By Benjamin F. Gilbert
Recent Californiana 174
News of the Society 175
Marginalia 188
NUMBER 3 JL46''^()7' SEPTEMBER 1949
The Original Constitution of Calif or nia of 1 849 193
By J. N. Bowman
Documentary 198
The Oregon and California Letters of Bradford Ripley Alden . . .199
The 1883 Flood on the Middle Yuba River 233
By Doris Foley and S. Griswold Morley
The Hudson's Bay Company in San Francisco (Concluded) .... 243
By Anson S. Blake
Dr. Edward Turner Bale 259
By Dean Albertson
Recent Californiana 270
News of the Society 271
Marginalia 284
NUMBER 4 DECEMBER 1949
Page
Timothy D wight Hunt and His Wedding Records 289
By Clifford M. Drury
The Burrell Letters 297
Edited, with Introduction and Notes, by R. R. Stuart
Major James D. Savage and the Tulareiios 323
By Annie R. Mitchell
Documentary 342
Chinese and Japanese Immigration to the Pacific Coast 343
By Hart H. North
The Oregon and California Letters of Bradford Ripley Alden
(Concluded) 351
Documentary 360
The Question of Sainsevain's Signature 361
By J. N. Bowman
Recent Calif omiana 363
News of the Society
Recollections of Templeton Crocker, This Society's Founder . .364
By Henry R. Wagner
Gifts, etc 366
Marginalia 377
ILLUSTRATIONS
Facing
Page
Anton Roman i
San Francisco, after the Fire of May 4, 1 85 1 31
Thomas Vincent Cator 47
The Only Known Likeness of W. G. Rae 97
JanosXantus 128
J. Ross Browne 193
Capt. Bradford Ripley Alden 203
Mrs. Bradford Ripley Alden with Percy and Sarah 222
Dr. Bale's Mill 266
Morton Raymond Gibbons, M.D 289
James Savage's Trading Post east of Madera, and Granite Shaft
which indicates his burial place 326
Sign identifying "Charter Oak" until July 10, 1949 334
Memorial Tablet honoring Capt. Bradford Ripley Alden 351
Index
California Historical Society
Quarterly
Volume XXVIII
1949
CALIFORNIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY
SAN FRANCISCO
INDEX TO VOLUME TWENTY-EIGHT
Adams, David L., 380
Adams, Lydia Swain. See Bryan, Mrs. Abner
Adams & Co., express, 62, 67, 210
Addis, Jacob, 292
Addis, Mrs. Jacob, 292
"Address to the People of California," 361, 362
Admission Day (1850), ode read at, 34
Agua Fria, 325-41 passi?n
Albertson, Dean, author of Dr. Edward Tur-
ner Bale, 259-69; 284
Alden, Bradford Ripley, Oregon and Califor-
nia letters of, 199-232, 351-59
Alden, Mrs. Bradford Ripley, 199-232 passim
Alden, Percy, 205-209 passim; im^-ii passijn
Alden, Sarah, 205, 215
Alexander, Emily. See Smith, Mrs. Henry
Allan, George Traill. See Pelly and Allan
Alleghany road, 237, 239
Allen, Fannie A. See Grove, Mrs. Samuel C.
Allen, R., 193
Allen, Robert, 162
Alta Dam (on Cedar Creek), 236
Althouse, 229
Altrocchi, Julia Cooley, author of Paradox
Town, 31-46; 92 (biog. note)
Alva, Manuel, 259
Alvarado, J. B., 98, 102, 103, 107, no, 245,
253-62 passim
Alviso, 298, 321
Alvord, Benjamin, 202, 226, 351-52, 358, 359
Amador, Mrs. Jose M., 259
American Mine (at Sweetland), 234
American Theater (San Francisco), 37
Amory & Co., 360
Andrews, Thomas, 198
Angelis, David, 137
Annual Report of the Secretary, 85-87
Annual Report of the Treasurer, 181-83
Anton Roman, by Madeleine B. Stem, 1-18
Applegate brothers, seen by Capt. B. R. Alden,
210, 228
Apples (Baldwin) in San Francisco in 185 1, 40
Arabian (brig), 292
Art Association in San Francisco (i 851), 35
Ashley, William H., 119
Atherton, F. D., letters to, from T. O. Larkin,
ii3-i5;342
Atherton, Robert, 113, 114, 342
Atlantic & Pacific Telegraph Co., 285
Atwill, Joseph F., 285
Augur, Christopher Colon, 202
Australia, gold discoveries in, 277
Avery, B. P., 9
Awani, 333
Badger Hill, 240
Bailey, Caroline P. See Story, Mrs. Charles R.
Baillie, Thomas, 252
Bain, Susan. See Murray, Mrs. Jonn
Baird, Spencer F., 125, 126
Baker, Edward D., 166, 168
Bale, Carolina, 265
Bale, Edward Turner, 259-69
Bale, Mrs. Edward Turner, 259, 269
Barbour, George W., 328-333 passim, 339
Barker, Mary Louisa. See Waters, Mrs. Joseph
N.H.
Barker, Timothy Leonard, 382
Barnum, Gorham N., 378
Barnum, Mrs. Gorham N., 378
Barrels. See Casks
Barry, James, quoted, 52
Barry, Theodore A., 293
Barry, Mrs. Theodore A., 293
Bartlett, Annie. See Forey, Mrs. John C.
Bartlett, W. C, 8-9
Bassett, Charles, 325
Batturs, Edward T., 294, 295
Batturs, Mrs. Edward T., 294, 295
Baylor, John R., 170
Beale, Edward F., 334, 341
Bear River, 236
Beauchamp, Leander, 294
Beauchamp, Mrs. Leander, 294
Beaver, 121, 122, 124, 251, 255. See also Otter
Beaver (steamer), 105, 247
Beaver River, 217, 230
Beef, curing of (in 1840's), 102, 109-10
Beeney Ranch, 235
Bell, Margaret. See Schmadcke, Mrs. Richard
Belvidere (bark), 382
Benicia, lumber for, 267
Bergson, Ole, 379
Berreyesa, Feliz, 264
Berreyesa, Jose de los Santos, 264, 265
Berrill, William, 293
Berrill, Mrs. William, 293
Berry, Benjamin L,, 116
Berry, Jechonias L., 337
Biddlc, James, 342
Bidwell, John, 255, 257
INDEX
387
Bigle[y] John, 292
Bigle[y], Mrs. John, 292
Bingham, Charles Edward, 294, 295
Bingham, Mrs. Charles Edward, 294, 295
Birchville, 236, 240
Birdsall Dam (on Bear River), 236
Bimie, Robert, 99, 107
Bishop, Charles, 60, 67
Black brothers (ranchers), 234
Blake, Anson S., author of The Hudson's Bay
Company in San Francisco, 243-58; and of
obit, of Templeton Crocker, 90
Blake, Marguerite May. See Wilbur, Mrs. Ray
Lyman
Bloody Run Canyon, 234
Bloomer, John G., 285
"Bloomerism," 202, 226
Bloomers, in San Francisco in 1851, 40-41
Bloomfield Mine, 233, 240
Blum, Hermann, 141
Blum, Isador, 141
Bodega, 100, 102, 108
Boggs, Lilbum W., 324
Bohmer, Hermine. See Gerstung, Mrs. Hen-
rick
Bonanza, issued by Mother Lode Chap., Sierra
Club, 190
Bonaventura River. See Sacramento River
Bonneville, Benjamin L. E., 201, 225
Borden, — (master of Bozuditch), 113, 114
Bordon [?]. 5^^ Borden
Botts, Charles T,,. 361
Bound for the Land of Canaan, Ho! (con-
cluded), by Marco Thome, 57-68
Bourland, William, 337
Bowden, Joseph, 290
Bowditch (American ship), 114
Bower, William, 337
Bowling, John, 33 1» 332-33. 334
Bowman, J. N., author of Preservation of the
State Archives, 143-50; The Original Con-
stitution OF California, 193-97; ^^^ of The
Question of Sainsevain's Signature, 361-
62; see also 284
Boyd, John, 292
Boyd, Mrs. John, 292
Bradley, L. R., 379
Branham, Isaac, 63
Bransom, Benjamin, 337
Brennen, John H., 294
Brennen, Mrs. John H,, 294
Brent, Thomas L., 202, 203, 204
Brewery, in Yreka (1853), 213, 229
Bridges, on Middle Yuba, 236 ff ; covered, 237
Briggs, Joseph W., 302, 303, 318
Brooks, James, 293
Brooks, Mrs. James, 293
Brooks, Joel R., 337
Brooks, Noah, 8-9
Broom House, 237
Brotchie, William, 102, 255
Brown, Abram, 337
Browne, J. Ross, 193-97 P^ssi?n
Bruce, John (luncheon speaker), 88-89
Bruff, J. Goldsborough, 58, 6^, 67
Brush Dam (on Yuba), 236
Bryan, Abner, 379-80
Bryan, Mrs. Abner, 379-80
Bryan, Mary. See Conrad, Mrs. Ephraim
Francis
Bryan, William Jennings, in California in 1895,
5
Bryant, Edwin, 267, 324
Bryce, Reuben P., 293
Bryce, Mrs. Reuben P., 293
Bryson, James, 337
Bucknell, Hannah. See Harris, Mrs. Abraham
W.
Buenaventura River. See Sacramento River
Bunnell, Lafayette, 333
Burgess, Gilbert & Still, i, 2, 14, 378
Burke, Jackson (luncheon speaker), 184
Burke, Mary Ann. See Spicer, Mrs. Edwin
Burnett, Peter H., 59, 67, 68, 326, 329
Burney, James, 326, 327, 330
Burn's Diggings, 332
Burrell, old town in Santa Cruz Co., 317
Burrell, Birney, 298, 299, 306, 316-22 passim
Burrell, Mrs. Birney, 319
Burrell, Clara. See Morrell, Mrs. Hiram C.
Burrell, Clarissa Wright, letters of, 297-322
Burrell, Eliza, 316
Burrell, James, 297
Burrell, Lyman J., 297-322 passim
Burrell, Martha, 316, 319
The Burrell Letters, ed. by R. R. Stuart,
297-322
Cadboro (ship), 252
California, first legislature of, 63-64; original
constitution of, 193-97, 361-62; constitu-
tional convention of (1849), 372-73; see also
Texas
388
INDEX
California (steamer), 57, 290-91
California: A Possible Derivation of the
Name, by A. E. Sokol, 23-30
California Academy of Sciences, organization
of, 141
California for Hungarian Readers, Letters
of Janos Xantus, 18^1 ajxd 18^9, ed. by
Henry Miller Madden, 125-42
California Historical Society, founder of, 364-
66
California Mail Bag, 13, 17, 18
California Publishing Co., 10
California State Medical Society, 374
California State Swamp Commission, 93
Calif omian (newspaper), 115
Calif omian, A Western Monthly Magazine
(1880), 9-10, 13
Calthrope, Lord, $6
Camp, Charles L. (luncheon speaker), 277-78;
364
Camp Norris, 340
Campbell, Mary L. See Burrell, Mrs. Birney
Campbell, W. J., 334, 336, 337. See also Camp-
bell, Poole & Co.
Campbell, Poole & Co., 335, 336. See also
Campbell, W. J.
Campbell's Ferry, 337
Camptonville, 237
Canby, E. R. S., 163
Canes, from Sutter's Mill timbers, 295
Canfield, Ellen. See Fuller, Mrs. William
Cape Horn, events of voyage around (1853),
315-16
Cape San Lucas, 125, 126
Carleton, G. W., 10, 11
Carlton, Frank D., 12
Carmany, John H., 9
Came Humana (E. T. Bale's rancho), 262-63,
266, 267
Caroline (steamer), 40
Carrillo, Ramona. See Wilson, Mrs. John
Carswell, Helen. See Robertson, Lorin
Casarin, Manuel Jimeno. See Jimeno Casarin,
Manuel
Cash, necessity of, in early California com-
merce, 103
Casks, in early California industry, 102, 109,
no
Castillero, Andres, 267
Castor, Thomas Foster, 213, 221, 230
Castro, Simeon, 262
Cator, Thomas Vincent, 47-55
Cator, Mrs. Thomas Vincent, 54
Caymus Rancho, 262
Cedar Creek, 236
Chambers, Thomas J. A., 294
Chambers, Mrs. Thomas J. A., 294
Chapin, Elizabeth R. See Tubbs, Mrs. Alfred
L.
Chapman, Ethel. See Cator, Mrs. Thomas
Vincent
Chard, William, 260
Charles (ship), 198
Charter Oak, 334
Chase, Stephen Henry, 293
Chase, Mrs. Stephen Henry, 293
Chatfield, Nels, 239, 242
Chatfield, Solon, 239, 241
Cherokee (town), 236
Chickering, Allen L., 366; author of obit, of
Morton R. Gibbons, M.D., 374-75
China, investment in, in early 1850's, 357-58,
359
China and the Chinese, Anton Roman's books
on, 4-5
Chinese, in California (1857), 128; in Scott
Valley, 214, 229; mining on Middle Yuba,
234, 237, 238; living in ruins of Sutter's Mill
(Jan. 1855), 295
Chinese and Japanese Immigration to the
Pacific Coast, by Hart North, 343-50
Chinese Six Companies, 343
Chinn, James Weeks, 380
Chinn, Mrs. James Weeks, 380
Chinn, Virginia. See Glenn, Mrs. Alexander
Chow-Chilla Indians, 324-41 passim
Civil War, California's position in, 155-56;
mythical conspiracy during, 165-73
Clarke, J. T., 298, 316
Clarke, Mrs. J. T., 298
Classon, Robert, 292
Classon, Mrs. Robert, 292
Clicatat Indians, 232
Clyman, James, 266
Coal, in Oregon, 221, 231
Coarse Gold (town), 334-36 passim
Coast Manufactory and Supply Co., 372
Coke, Henry J., $6
Coleman, Anne CaroHne. See Alden, Mrs. B.
Collins, Joseph W., 206-208 passim, 351
Colorado River, 121; beaver near mouth of,
Colton, Walter, 289
INDEX
389
Columbia (town), 276-77
Columbia (bark), 97, 98, 107, 249, 250
Columbia Barracks, 201-207 passim
Columbia River, 118-20 passim
Columbus (ship), 342
Columbus Buggy Co., 380
Colville, Andrew, 243-44
Conrad, Mrs. Ephraim Francis, 380
Convoy (brig), 123
Cooke, William, 380
Cooke, Mrs. William, 380
Coppinger, James, 260
Cordero, Thomas. See Cordua, Theodore
Cordua, Theodore, 264-65, 269
Cornelius' Ferry, 330
Corvallis (former Marysville, Ore.), Capt. B.
R. Alden at, 207
Costs of the Modoc War, by Richard H.
Dillon, 161-64; 286
Cotton Wood Post Office, 352
Cowan, Robert E., 364-65
Cowlitz (bark), 99-105 passim, 243, 252
Cox, Joseph, 337
Cram, Rogers & Co., express, 226, 231
Crane, Charles Henry, M.D., 216, 221
Crescent City, 228-29
Crocker, Benjamin R., 294
Crocker, Mrs. Benjamin R., 294
Crocker, Templeton, obit, of, 90; founder of
California Historical Society, recollections
about, 364-66
Cunningham, James, 360
Cunningham, Joseph, 360
Cypriano (Indian chief), 330, 331
Czapkay, Lajos, 131-32, 142 (biog.)
Dalton, Henry, 257
Dams, 233-42 passifn
Dancing in San Francisco (1851), 37-39
Dart, George, 354, 358
Dates of Palou's Death and Lasuen's Birth
Determined, by Maynard Geiger, 19-22
Davis, George, 233, 241
Davis, Jefferson, on frontier conditions in U.
S. army, 200, 216, 227-32 passim
Davis, Stephen, 292
Davis, Mrs. Stephen, 292
Davis, W. H., 198
Day, D. G., 61, 64
de la Guerra, Pablo. See Guerra, Pablo de la
Dean, Anne. See Boyd, Mrs. John
Deighton, Elizabeth. See Leppien, Mrs. Fred
Democratic party, formation of, in California,
58 ff; in early 1850's, 153-54
Dennison, Samuel, 66
Dent's Crossing, 330
Derby, Roger Alden, 224
Derby, Mrs. Roger Alden, op. p. 222 (cap-
tion), 224
Derickson, Ben, 238, 242
Diamond (bark), 251
Dill, William, 331, 334
Dillon, Richard H., author of Costs of the
Modoc War, 161-64; 188, 286
Dr. Edward Turner Bale, Incorrigible Cali-
fornio, by Dean Albertson, 259-69
Documentary, $6, 116, 198, 360
Dominis, Capt. — (of the Owhyhee), 123
Do7i Quixote (bark), 260, 342
Donner Party, 298, 324
Doty, Samuel, 294
Doty, Mrs. Samuel, 294
Douglas, James, 98-112 passim, 254-55, 256, 262
Downey, Helen. See Martin, Mrs. Eleanor
Downieville, 237, 238
Dragoons (U. S.), in northern California
(1853), 203, 223, 228, 230, 231
Dresel, Emil. See Kuchel & Dresel
Drury, Clifford M., author of Timothy
DwiGHT Hunt and His Wedding Records,
289-96
Duffie, Mary Anne. See Price, Mrs. James
Duflot de Mofras, Eugene, 105
Dunlap, Elizabeth P. See Chase, Mrs. Stephen
Henry
Dutch Flat Times, quoted, 235-36
Dwinelle, John W., 1 16
Dyer, Josephine. See Rosenswig, Mrs. Ber-
nard
Earle, David, 292
Earle, Mrs. David, 292
Eddy, William M., 382
Edmunds, B. F., 335-37 passim
Education in San Francisco (1851), 33-35
Edwards, Dr. —,335
Edwards, Edward, 337
The 1883 Flood on the Middle Yuba River,
by Doris Foley and S. Griswold Morley,
233-42
Election of 1849, 70 ff
Elisaldi, Juan, 265
Elliott, Miss — . See Hudson, Mrs. George
Elliott, Caroline A. See Ladd, Mrs. William S.
390
INDEX
Ellis, William T., 233, 235, 240
Emory's Crossing, 234, 237, 241-42
English Dam, on Middle Yuba, collapse of
(1883), 233-42
English Mountain, 233
Erie (ship), 342
Ermatinger, Francis, 243, 245, 249, 254
Estudillo, J. M., 258
"Etc.," B. Harte's editorial in Overland
Monthly, 8, 9
Eureka Lake Company, dam of, 234
Everett, Dr. C. E., 335, 337
Express companies, operations in northern
California in 1850's, 226
Fairweather, Tom, 234
Fallon, Thomas, 339
Fama (ship), 254
Family life in early San Francisco, 32-33
Fanega, exact measurement of, 109
Farquhar, Francis P. (luncheon speaker),
185-86
"Fast crabs," 41
Feather River, debris from Yuba into, 235;
fine gold from, 302
Filoza, Miguel, 262
Fine Gold Gulch, 335, 336
Fires in San Francisco (i 851), 41-42
First Congregational Church of San Francisco,
291
Fisher, Oceana. See Brooks, Mrs. James
Flogging in San Francisco (i 851), 42, 43
Flood, on Middle Yuba (1883), 233-42
Flood water, sediment carried, 241
Flores, Gumesindo, 261-63 passim
Flores, J. M., 257
Flying Cloud (clipper), 293, 314, 320
Foley, Doris, co-author of The 1883 Flood on
THE Middle Yuba, 233-42
Foote's Crossing, 234
Forbes, James Alexander, 103, no, 243, 252,
253-54
Ford, Henry L., 189
Forest City, 239, 240
Forey, John C, 293
Forey, Mrs. John C, 293
Fort Jones, 199-232 passim, 351-59 passim
Fort Miller, 337
Fort Nez Perces, 120, 122
Fort Reading, 216, 221, 228, 352-53
Fort Ross, 257
FortTejon, 125, 126, 131
Fort Vancouver, 103-105 passim, 118-22 passifn,
199-204 passim, 208-13 passim, 225, 226, 244,
251,255,257,357
Fotheringhame, Frances M. See Lew^is, Mrs.
John Roome
Four Creeks, 325, 330, 334, 337
Fourth of July (1853), celebration of, at
Yreka, 217, 230
Fowler, Henry, 266
Fowler, William, 266
Frankenburger, L. C, 335, 337
Freeman, Thomas, 234, 237-42 passim
Freeman, W. F., 202
Freeman's Crossing, 237, 238
Freer, Henry A., 292
Freer, Mrs. Henry A., 292
Fremont, J. C, 64, 68, 342
Fremont (brig), 372
French Corral, 236, 237, 240, 241
Fresno River, 325-41 passim
Fruit trees, plantings of ( 1841 ) , 263
Fryer, Annie Rogers. See Threlkeld, Mrs.
Melville C.
Fryer, John, 376
Fuller, William, 292
Fuller, Mrs. William, 292
Gage, Henry T., 189
Gardiner, John William Tudor, 213
Garrison, John H., 337
Gas, introduction of, into San Francisco, 42, 46
Gatliff, W. H., M.D., 353
Geary, John W., 58, 67, 1 16
Geary, Dr. S. R., 67
Geddes, Paul B., 59, 66, 113, 114, 1 16
Geiger, Maynard, author of Dates of Palou's
Death and Lasuen's Birth Determined,
19-22; 92 (biog. note)
"Gentlemen's Agreement," 345
Gerstung, Henrick, 293
Gerstung, Mrs. Henrick, 293
Gibbons, Henry, Sr., M.D., 374, 375
Gibbons, Morton Raymond, M.D., In Memo-
RIAM, 374-75
"Gifts of Remembrance," 180, 376
Gifts received by the Society, 82-84, 175-80,
271-75' 367-71
Gilbert, Benjamin F., author of Mythical
Johnston Conspiracy, 165-73
Gildersleeve, C. C, 240
Gillem, A. C, 163
Gillespie, A. H., 342
INDEX
391
Gillespie, C. V., 290
Gilman, Charles, 60
Glenn, Alexander, 380
Glenn, Mrs. Alexander, 380
Glenn, Elizabeth. See O'Brien, Mrs. Matthew
D.
Glover, Aseneth. See Hosford, Mrs. C. O.
Gold finds: along San Joaquin tributaries, 113,
114; in vicinity of Scott Valley, 213, 229; in
Australia and South Africa, 277-78
Gold refinery, Hungarian, in San Francisco
(1857), 131, 137
Golden Gate (steamer), 125, 127
Goldfellen, Ann. See Woodville, Mrs. Joseph
Shannon
Goose Lake, emigrants passing (1853), 228
Goucher, G. G., 47
Graham, Isaac, 260
Graniteville, 234
Grant, Lewis T., 294
Grant, Mrs. Lewis T., 294
Grants, alcalde, in San Francisco, 63, 67-68
Graves, Mary. See Clarke, Mrs. J. T.
Graves, William B., 315, 321
Graysonville, 330
Greeley, — (J. D. Savage's agent), 325
Green, Alfred Augustus, 292
Green, Mrs. Alfred Augustus, 292
Green, Franklin Theodore, 379
Green, Julia. See Addis, Mrs. Jacob
Green, Talbot H. See Geddes, Paul B.
Green, Theodore, 379
Green, Mrs. Theodore, 379
Greenhorn Mountain (Kern Co.), gold in, 277
Greenwood, Caleb, 286
Gregson, Mrs. James and baby, 296
Griffin (ship), 378
Grimes, Hiram T., 382
Grimes, "Jack," 239
Grizzly bear, 21 1, 228
Gross, Elizabeth. See Radcliffe, Mrs. Alden
Grove, Samuel C, 294
Grove, Mrs. Samuel C, 294
Grover, W. A., M.D., 382
Guadalupe Hidalgo, treaty of, 325, 328
Gudde, Erwin G. (luncheon speaker), 184-85
Guerrero y Palomares, Francisco, 243, 254, 267
Gulf of California, 1 2 1
Gwin, William M., 64, 68, 373
Haas, John L., 293
Haas, Mrs. John L., 293
Hackett, John K., 360
Haight, Andrew J., 382
Haiwacott, Elizabeth Frances. See Kimmel,
Mrs. Joseph Houston
Hale, Horatio, 105
Halleck, Henry Wager, 193, 373
Hamblin, Maria L. See Warren, Mrs. Henry
a
Hamilton, — , engrosser of California consti-
tution (1849), i()-^-()6 passim, 362
Hamlin, Mrs. —,316
Hana, — . See Okina, Mrs. — (Hawaiian)
Hangtown. See Placerville
Happy Valley (in 185 1), 32
Haraszthy, Agoston, 130, 131, 137, 141 (biog.
note)
Haraszthy, Arpad, 130, 141-42 (biog. note)
Harbin, James, 267
Hargrave, William, 266
Hargraves, Edward Hammond, discoverer of
gold in Australia, 277
Harpending, Asbury, 167
Harriet (ship), 259
Harris, Abraham W., 293
Harris, Mrs. Abraham W., 293
Harris, Stephen, 66
Harrison, E. H., 290
Harte, Bret, and A. Roman, 6 ff, 17
Hartnell, W. E. P., 114, 193, 362
Hart's Ranch, 327
Harvey, Walter, 330, 335-38 passim
Harvey, Mrs. Walter. See Martin, Mrs. Elea-
nor
Hastings, L. W., 373
Hatter, "Mr.," 292
Haydon, Charles H., 293
Haydon, Mrs. Charles H., 293
Health insurance, in California (1930), 374-75
Hedges, Mary. See Hunt, Mrs. Timothy
Dwight
Henarie, Daniel Van B., 294
Henarie, Mrs. Daniel Van B., 294
Henness Pass road, 233, 236-37
Herrick brothers (William F. and Ephraim),
322
Hess, Thomas, 237
Hides and tallow, 101-112 passim, 244-58 pas-
sim
Higgins, -, 292
Higgins, Mrs. — , 292
Hilsee, Joseph Warren, and family, 94
392
INDEX
Hinckley, William Sturgis, 253, 257, 265, 266
Hitchcock, Ethan A., 199, 204, 205, 215, 216,
224' 225, 340
Hofmann, Joseph A., 12
Holle, Rebecca. See Von Carnap, Mrs. Robert
Holmes, Eliza. See Haydon, Mrs. Charles H.
HoTne Journal, favorite among soldiers on
frontier, 216, 230
Homeier, Katherine, 382
Homeier, Louis, 382
Homeier, Max, 382
Honolulu, T. D. Hunt's parish in, 289
Hooper, William H., 116
Hoover, Herbert, R. L. Wilbur in cabinet of,
280
Hoppe, J. D., 195-96
Horse-drawn carriages, in San Francisco
(1851), 41, 46
Horseshoe Bend, 234, 241
Hosford, Rev. C. O., 290, 292
Hosford, Mrs. C. O., 292
Hosley, Mrs. Mary A. See Henarie, Mrs. Dan-
iel Van B.
Houghton, Mrs. Edith V. See Cator, Mrs.
Thomas Vincent, 2d
The Hounds, 152
Howard, W. D. M., 292, 294-95, 296
Howard, Mrs. W. D. M., 292, 294-95, 296
Howe, J. E., 195
Howell, John, author of obit, of George D.
Lyman, 281-82
Hudson, George, 293
Hudson, Mrs. George, 293
Hudson's Bay Co., 113, 114, 1 17-24 passim, 201,
202-203, 217, 218, 225-28 passim
The Hudson's Bay Company in San Fran-
cisco, by Anson S. Blake, 97-112, 243-58
Hiibner, Henriette, 131
Hugg, B. P., 235
Huichica Rancho, 269
Humboldt River, 119, 121, 123
Humboldt Sink, 123
Humphreys, Charles, 97
Hungarians in early California, 125-42
Hunt, Timothy Dwight, wedding records of,
289-96
Hunt, Mrs. Timothy Dwight, 289
lardella, L. A., 64, 68
Ice cream in San Francisco (i 851), 39
Immigration, to California: American, 76-78;
oriental, 343-50
In Memoriam, 90, 279-82, 374-76
Independent Order of Odd Fellows, 60, 67
Indians, titles to lands relinquished, 327-28;
see also under name of tribe, or of region
inhabited
Inskeep, Mrs. Mary E. See May, Mrs. William
B.
Iowa Hill, 380
Irish, in California, 1 3
Isoms, Ira, 337
].R.S. (brig), 113, 114
Jack, "Captain" (Indian), 161
Jackson, D. E., 119
Jackson Forks, 233
Jackson Ranch, 234
Jacksonville, Ore., Indian troubles near, 199,
223-32 passim, 351-59 passi?n
Jamison, Stephen, 294
Jamison, Mrs. Stephen, 294
Japanese, immigration of, to Pacific coast,
343-50
"Jeems Pipes." See Massett, Stephen C.
Jeffrey, John, 201, 205, 217, 22^-26
Jenny Lind Theater, 36-37, 45
Jessup, Armeda. See Pratt, Mrs. Leonidas
Jessup, Elizabeth. See Chinn, Mrs. James
Weeks
Jimeno Casarin, Manuel, 261, 262
Johnson, Francis, 97
Johnson, G. W., 316, 317
Johnston, Adam, 326-41 passim
Johnston, Albert Sidney, 165-73; 165 (biog.
note)
Johnston, William Preston, 166
Joice, E. v., 116
Jones, James McHall, 193, 361, 373
Jones, John C, 258
Jones, Mary Alice. See Tyrrell, Mrs. Samuel
Jones, Roger, Fort Jones namesake of , 2 1 3, 2 28
Jones, T. A. Catesby, 249, 256
Jose Jesus, 330
Joughin, Eleanor. See Mattei, Mrs. Andrew
J oven Guipuzcoana (bark), 260
Joyce, E. V., 57, 59, 6$, 66
Juarez, Cayetano, 264
Juarez, Jose, 324-26 passim
Judah, Charles D., 360
Karabahal, Rosale. See Oswall, Mrs. James
Kearny, Philip, 213, 229
Keith, William, exhibit of original paintings,
etc., 88
Kellogg, Florentine Erwin, 266
INDEX
393
Kelsey, Samuel, 265
Kelsey brothers, 265
Kennedy, — (friend of Levi Stowell), 64
Kent, Edward A., 293
Kent, Mrs. Edward A., 293
Kenway & Robertson, 198
Kerwing, Mrs. — , 63, 64
Kilbum, Ralph, 265-67 passim
Kimmel, Joseph Houston, 294
Kimmel, Mrs. Joseph Houston, 294
King, James, 71, 116
King, T. Butler, rally for, 58, 64
King's River, Indians on, 334-37 passim
Kip, William Ingraham, 10, 231
Klamath and Trinity Indians, 199, 200, 222,
231,232
Klamath Lake, 2 1 2
Klauber, A. E., 189
"Know Nothings," in California in 1850's, 73,
154-55
Knowland, Joseph R. (luncheon speaker), 276
Kostromitenof, Peter, 102, 1 10
Kroh, Mary Matilda. See Trembly, Mrs.
David
Kinder, Henry, 337
Kuchel, Augusta Elizabeth. See Bergson, Mrs.
Ole
Kuchel [Charles C] & Dresel [Emil], 379
Kuykendall, John, 331
Lacey, Rev. E. S., 380
Ladd, William S., 294, 295
Ladd, Mrs. William S., 294, 295
Laframboise, Michel, iii, 124, 251, 255
Lamb, Dr. W. Kaye, 99, 111-112 (quoted), 244
Lane, Joseph, 119, 200, 224-25, 231, 232, 351,
358
Languages, taught in San Francisco (1851).
See Palmer, Rodriguez
Larkin, Thomas Oscar, 195-96, 253, 258-62
passim, 266, 267, 293
Larkin, Mrs. Thomas Oscar, 260-61, 262
Larkin to Atherton, ed. by A. T. Leonard,
Jr., M.D., 1 13-15; see also same to same, 342
Lassen Trail, 298, 318
Lasuen, Fray Fermin Francisco de, date of
birth, 20-21
Lathrop, Mrs. — . See Higgins, Mrs. —
Lava beds, campaign in, 163
Law's [George] Line, Pacific steamers, 360
Layton, Christopher, 292
Layton, Mrs. Christopher, 292
Le Vere, Maria. See Green, Mrs. Theodore
Lea, Luke, 339, 340
Leach, Lewis, M.D., 339
Leavenworth, T. M., 289, 296
Leese, Jacob P., 100, 108, 257, 264-69 passim
Leese, Mrs. Jacob P., 108
Lein, Rebecca. See Mooshake, Mrs. Frederick
Leland, Richard, 123
Leman, Walter M., 13
Leonard, A. T., Jr., M.D., ed. of Larkin to
Atherton, 113-15
Leonard, Hiram, 221
Leppien, Fred, 293
Leppien, Mrs. Fred, 293
Lewis, Harriet. See Williams, Mrs. James
Lewis, John Roome, 293
Lewis, Mrs. John Roome, 293
Lewis, M. B., 334
Lexington (ship), 113, 114
Leyorcita, Dolores. See Green, Mrs. Alfred
Augustus
Library, public, agitation for, in San Fran-
cisco (1851), 35
Lick, James, 298
Le Lion (ship), 342
Lisiere, 105, iii
Louderback, Sophie. See Neil, Mrs. William
W.
Love, Harry, 338
Lucas, Maria. See Berrill, Mrs. William
Luego. See Lugo
Lugo, Antonio, 325
Lugo, Francisco, 189
Lugo, Maria de Jesiis. See Williams, Mrs. Isaac
Lumber, 99, 107, 113, 267
Lyceum Gazette, 134, 142
Lydik, Ed, 239, 240
Lyman, George D., In Memoriam, 281-82
Lynch law in California, 151-53, 159
Lyon, Ellen F. See Bryce, Mrs. Reuben P.
Lyon, Worthington S., 382
Lyons, "Judge" [Aaron?], 64
McBee, John C, 337
McClatchy, James, 166-67, ^^9
McCrady River, 228
McCrellish, Frederick, 1 2
Macdonald, — , funeral of (Nov. 1848), 290
McDonald, Mary Ann. See Reeve, Mrs. Wil-
liam B.
McDougal, John, 59, 66, 67, 195, 327, 331
McGillivray, Montrose, 107
McGlynn, John A., 66
Mackay, Ann. See Roach, Mrs. John
394
INDEX
McKee, Redick, 328, 333
McKee, William H., 266
"McKillicon's mine," 234
McLean, Frances. See Doty, Mrs. Samuel
McLeod, Alexander, 1 19-24 passim
McLoughlin, Eloisa. See Rae, Mrs. W. G.
McLoughlin, John, 98-112 passim^ 120, 225,
243-58 passiffi
McMillen, W. W., 334
Mactavish, Dugald, 253, 258
Madden, Henry Miller, ed. of California for
Hungarian Readers, 125-42; 188 (biog.
note)
Mail, in northern California (1853), 202, 226
Major James D. Savage and the Tularenos,
by Annie R. Mitchell, 323-41
Maloney, Alice Bay, quoted, 117
Mansfield, Joseph King Fenno, 216, 229-30
Manson, Donald, 123
Manzanita Hill, 240
Marginalia, 92-94, 188-90, 284-86, 377-82
Mariposa Battalion, 327-331 passim, 338
Mariposa River, 325-41 passim
Marsh, James, 293
Marsh, Mrs. James, 293
Marshall, James, 339
Marti, Benedict, 293
Marti, Mrs. Benedict, 293
Martin, Mrs. Eleanor (Mrs. Edward Martin),
formerly Mrs. Walter Harvey, 338
Martin, Mrs. Rosanna. See Crocker, Mrs. Ben-
jamin R.
Marvin, John, 329, 330, 338
Mary's River. See Humboldt River
Marysville, threat to, in Middle Yuba flood
(1883), 235
Marysville, Ore. See Corvallis
Mason, Paul, 194, 195, 197
Masquerades, in San Francisco (1851), 38
Massett, Stephen C. ("J^ems Pipes"), ^6
Mathew^s, Richard, 337
Mattel, Andrew, 188
Mattel, Mrs. Andrew, 188
May, William B., 293
May, Mrs. William B., 293
Mead, Warren B., 294
Mead, Mrs. Warren B., 294
Mechanics Institute, organization of, 141
Medicine, in California, quackery in, 374
Meetings, 88-89, 184-86, 276-78, 327-73
Meigs, M. C, 162
Melius & Howard, 113, 253, 254. See also
Howard, W. D. M.
Mercantile Library Association (1859), ^34"
35,141,142
Merced River, 331-32
Merchant, Frederick George, 294
Merchant, Mrs. Frederick George, 294
Mercury, on Dr. Bale's property, 267
Merkel, Mrs. Frederika W. Amalia. See Wet-
sel, Mrs. Francis Theodore
Merkel, Louisa Philippina. See Reis, Mrs. G.
L. G.
Merril, Frances E. See Wood, Mrs. Robert S.
S.
Merrill, Emma Jane. See Whitney, Mrs. —
Merritt, Ezekiel, 265
Metcalf, Victor H., 345
Meyer, Rosa W. See Woolsey, Mrs. John L.
Micheltorena, Manuel, 108, 264-66 passim
Miller, Lois, 241, 242
Miller, Morris S., 353, 358
Miller, N. C, 234, 237, 241
Milton Dam, 233, 236
Milton Mining & Water Co., 233, 236, 240, 241
Mines, F. S., 291
Mining, debris from, 241
Mint (iron ship), 63, 68
Minturn, Charles, 360
Minturn, Edward, 360
Miranda, Juan, 264
Mitchell, Levi, 378
Mitchell, Mrs. Levi, 378
Modeste (British ship), 252
Modoc War, 161-64, 286
Moerenhout, Jacques A., second incumbency
of, 69-79, 151-60; 342
Moerenhout, Mme. Philip, 159
Molitor, Agoston, 130, 137, 141
Montalvo, Alfonso Diaz, 28, 30
Montalvo, Garcia Ordonez de, 23, 29, 30
Monterey History and Art Association, 378
Moore, Isaiah N., 213
Moore, James A., 337
Moore, Lorraina. See Bamum, Mrs. Gorham
N.
Moore, Orlando H., 169
Mooshake, Rev. Frederick, 294-96
Mooshake, Mrs. Frederick, 294, 295
Morley, S. Griswold, co-author of The 1883
Flood on the Middle Yuba River, 233-42,
284 (biog. note)
INDEX
395
Morrell, Hiram C, 319
Morrell, Mrs. Hiram C, 316, 319
Morse, P. A., 116
Mount Shasta, 210, 211, 245, 255
Mountain Echoes, handwritten serial, 317
Mountain Herald. See Yreka Mountain Herald
Murieta, Joaquin, 338
Murphy, Timothy, 260
Murray, John, 294
Murray, Mrs. John, 294
Music, in San Francisco (1851), 37-38
Myrick, Mary E. See Grant, Mrs. Lewis T.
Mythical Johnston Conspiracy, by Benjamin
F. Gilbert, 165-73
Nagy, Imre, 1 39-40
Nagy, San dor, 132
Nasatir, A. P., trans, and ed., The Second In-
cumbency OF Jacques A. Moerenhout, 69-
79, 151-60
Nash, John H., 267
Neighbour, monthly Valparaiso paper, 115
Neil, William W., 293
Neil, Mrs. WilHam W., 293
Neuch-teus (Indians), 331, 332
Nevada City, 237
Nevada City Daily Transcript, cited, 233-42
passiTft
Nevada Irrigation District, 233
New Members, 91, 187-88, 283-84, 376-77
Newspapers in San Francisco (1851), 36; in
California (1857), 129; (1859), 135-37
Newton, G. W., 337
Norris, Thomas Wayne (luncheon speaker),
372-73
North Bloomfield, mining company, 240-41
North San Juan, 237
North Umpqua Ferry, 209
North West Company, 117, 118-19, 258
Norton, Henry H., 299, 319
Norton, Joshua A. ["Emperor"], 285
Nye's Crossing, 237
Oahu, trade between, and California, 99-103
passim, 198, 250, 251, 257
Oakes, George Anthony, 284, 285
Oakes, Mrs. George Anthony, 285-86
O'Brien, Mrs. Matthew D., 380
Odd Fellows. See Independent Order of Odd
Fellows
Oettel, Franz, 382
Ogden's [Peter S.] Report of His 1829-30 Ex-
pedition, ed. by John Scaglione, 1 17-24; see
also III
Ogle, Charles Henry, 213, 221, 230
Okina, — (Hawaiian), 292
Okina, Mrs. — (Hawaiian), 292
Ophir (Placer Co.), 380
Oregon (steamship), 62
The Oregon and California Letters of
Bradford Ripley Alden, 199-232, 351-59
Oregon City, 206-207
Oregon Creek, covered bridge over, 237-42
passim
Oregon emigrant trail, 220, 228
"Oregon Question," 1 1 1
Orientalia, A. Roman's contributions to, 4-5
Original Constitution of California, by J.
N. Bowman, 193-97
Oswall, James, 292
Oswall, Mrs. James, 292
Otter, in Sacramento Valley (1843), 251. See
also Beaver
Otterson, Martha. See Layton, Mrs. Christo-
pher
Outcroppings, collection of California verse,
6-7
"Outcroppings," editorial section of the Cali-
fornian, 9-10, 16
Overland Monthly, as launched by A. Roman,
7ff
Owen, Isaac E., 60, 67
Owhyhee (brig), 123
Oysters, in San Francisco restaurants ( 1 85 1 ) ,
39
Pacheco, Romualdo, 255
Pacific Mail SS. Co., 372
Pacific Medical and Surgical Journal, 133, 142
Pacific Museum, 133, 142
Pack trains, over Scott and Trinity mountains,
216, 229
Packano (Indian chief), 330
Page, Robert C, 294
Page, Mrs. Robert C, 294
Palmer, Rodriguez, 34
Palmer, T. G., 327
Palou, Fray Francisco, date of birth, 19-20
Pan-Wache (Indian chief), 332
Panama (steamship), 66, 116
Paradox Town, San Francisco (1851), by
Julia Cooley Altrocchi, 31-46
Paragon (ship), 228-29
Paragon Bay, 212, 214, 228
Parker, Mrs. E. M. See Wills, Mrs. Elizabeth
Maria Bonney
Parker, Robert A., 67
396
INDEX
Pasquale (Indian chief), 337
Patterson, John A., 59, 66^ 67
Patterson, Mary. See Williams, Mrs. James
Paty, John, 342
Peacock (sloop of war), m
Peckham, Robert F., 292
Peckham, Mrs. Robert F., 292
Pedrorena, Miguel de, 193, 196
Peebels, Gary, 298, 314-319 passim; 320-21
(biog. note)
Peirce, Henry A., quoted, 108
Peirce & Brewer, Honolulu merchants, 108,
Pelican Bay (or Trinidad Bay), 245, 255
Pelly [George] & Allan [George Traill], 100,
102, 107,252,257
Pelly, Sir John Henry, 107, 254, 257
Pelton, John C, 34
Pelton, Mrs. John C, 34
People's Party in California, 48, 160
Perabeau, Theresa Leonora. See Merchant,
Mrs. Frederick George
Perchoir, Henry, 233, 240, 241
Perkins, H. C, 233, 240
Perry, Matthew C, 200
Petronila, Miss — . See Thompson, Mrs. Isaac
Pettis, George Henry, 170
Phelps, Charles H., 10
Pianos, in San Francisco (1851), 38
Pichoir. See Perchoir
Pinto, Rafael, 261
Pit River, 119, 120, 122
Place names, California, discussed by Erwin
G. Gudde, 184-85
Placerville (also called Hangtown), 380
Poetry of the Pacific, published by H. H. Ban-
croft, 7
Poett, Agnes. See Howard, Mrs. W. D. M.
Political corruption in San Francisco (1850-
55), 70 ff
Politics, in California (1894-98), 47-55
Pool's [sic] Ferry. See Campbell, Poole & Co.
Poorman Claims, 234, 241
Populism in California, 47-55
Porter, Fitz John, 171
Powers, Mrs. Laura Bride, 378
Pratt, Leonidas, 380
Pratt. Mrs. Leonidas, 380
Presbyterian Church in San Francisco (1849),
291
Preservation of the State Archives, by J. N.
Bowman, 143-50
Price, James, 293
Price, Mrs. James, 293
Price, R. M., 59, 60
Prince Albert (ship), 244, 245, 247
Printing, private, in California, 184
Protestants, in San Francisco (1848-49), 290 ff
Prudon, Victor, 26^-66
Public domain, in California, 299
Puget Sound Association, 104, 108
Putzer, Jozef, 138-42 passim
Quackery. See Medicine, in California, quack-
ery in
Quartzburg, 325
The Question of Sainsevain's Signature, by
J. N. Bowman, 361-62
Radcliffe, Alden, 380
Radchffe, Mrs. Alden, 380
Radford, Richard Carlton Walker, 213, 220,
228, 230
Rae, W. G., 98-112 passim, 106-107 (biog.
note), 242-58 passim
Rae, Mrs. W. G., 105, 107, 108
Rancho del Capuchino, 132-33
Ranchos. See under separate names
Randolph, Edmund, 2, 59, 66, 166-68
Randsburg (Kern Co.), 189
Ranney, Mary A. See Marsh, Mrs. James
Recent Californiana, 80-81, 174-75, 270-71,
363
Recollections of Templeton Crocker, This
Society's Founder, by Henry R. Wagner,
364-66
Red Bay, entrance of Colorado River, 255
Redwood, in flume for Bale's Mill, 266
Reese brothers, 234
Reeve, William B., 293
Reeve, Mrs. William B., 293
Reid, Hugo, 361
Reid, Mary. See Haas, Mrs. John L.
Reis, G. L. G., 294
Reis, Mrs. G. L. G., 294
Republican party, in California (1850's), 154
Rhett Lake, 212, 228
Ricardo (Frenchman), 263
Rice, W. M., 344, 349
Rich, E. E., 99
Richardson, William A., 264-65
Riddle, Jeff, 162
Rider, J. H., 325
Ridge Telephone Line, 234, 241
Ridgewood Ranch, 381
Ridley, Robert, 253, 257
Riley, Michael, 93
Riley, Mrs. Michael, 93
INDEX
397
Riley, Peter Thomas, 93
Ristromitinoff, Pedro. See Kostromitenof,
Peter
Rittenhouse, Euphemia. See Wynn, Mrs.
Charles H.
Roach, John, 293
Roach, Mrs. John, 293
Roberts, William, 291
Robertson, Lorin, 294
Robertson, Mrs. Lorin, 294
Robinson, Edgar Eugene, author of obit, of
Ray Lyman Wilbur, 279-81
Robinson, Jesse, 351, 358
Rodgers, John S., 344, 349
Rodriguez, Damaso Antonio, 265
Rodriguez, Jacinto, 261
Rogue River Indians, 199, 213, 223, 231
Roman, Anton, 1-18
Rooker, James E., 379
Rooker, Mrs. Georgia. See Green, Mrs. Frank-
lin Theodore
Rosa, Jose de la, 266
Ross, C. L., 1 1 3, 1 1 5, 290
Ross, John, 231
RotchefF, Alexander, 102, no
Routes to California, relative merits of (1852),
306, 307, 310
Rowland, Mary Louise. See Earle, Mrs. David
Rozenswig, Bernard, 293
Rozenswig, Mrs. Bernard, 293
Russailh, Albert Benard de, quoted, 37, 42
Russell, Edmund, 203, 213, 227
Russell, William, 3 24
Russians, at Fort Ross, 102, 107-108, 1 10
Russian American Co., loi, 106, 109, 112
Rutledge, Lucy. See Cooke, Mrs. William
Ryan, Mrs. Ella W., 188
Ryland, Caius Tacitus, 317, 322
Sacramento River (also called Bonaventura),
121, 122, 124, 243
Sacramento Valley, beaver and otter in ( 1 843 ) ,
Sainsevain, Pedro, 193, 361-62
Salmon, from Columbia River, for California
(1826), 109
Salt, in curing of hides, meat and salmon, 10 1-
102, 109
San Francisco (1851), 31-46; (1857), 127-30
San Jose, 63, 64; state normal school in, 322
San Juan Ditch, 234
San Pedro (i 841), 255
Santa Clara, 102, 312, 321
Santa Cruz Mountains, Burrell homestead in,
299
Santa Teresa, battle at, 253
Savage, Eliza (wife of James D. Savage), 323,
324
Savage, James D., 323-41
Savage, Morgan (brother of James D. Sav-
age), 323, 324
Sawyer, Lorenzo, 236
Scaglione, John, ed. of Ogden's Report of His
1829-1830 Expedition, 117-24; 188 (biog.
note)
Scales, Sarah. See Riley, Mrs. Michael
Schmadcke, Richard, 294
Schmadcke, Mrs. Richard, 294
Schneider, Eva. See Classon, Mrs. Robert
Schofield, J. M., 161
Schoolbooks, published by A. Roman, ^-6, 16
Scott, Charles E., 66
Scott, Diego. See Scott, James
Scott, Henry L., 215, 216, 219, 229
Scott, James, 113-14, 115, 246, 255
Scott, Winfield, 200, 204, 216, 221, 222, 225,
230
Scott Bar Decision, i, 4
Scott Valley, 202, 210 ff, 354 ff
Scott's Valley. See Scott Valley
Sears, Sarah P. See Mead, Mrs. Warren B.
The Second Incumbency of Jacques A. Moe-
RENHouT, trans, and ed. by A. P. Nasatir,
69-79, 151-60
Segerstrom, Charles Homer, 378
Selover, A. A., 64, 68
Senator (steamship), 59,66, 360
Sevier Lake, 1 24
Sevier River, 1 24
Sharp, Ann. See Brennen, Mrs. John H.
Sharp, Eliza M. See Barry, Mrs. Theodore A.
Shasta Book Store, Anton Roman, prop., i
Shasta City, 2 1 1
Shasta Courier^ 225, 226, 230, 231
Shaw, Henry A., 293
Shaw, Mrs. Henry A., 293
Sherman, W. T., 296
Sierra Nevada, selective bibliography of
(luncheon topic), 185-86
Silk culture, in California, 5
Sill, Daniel, 265
Silver, free, in California politics (1895), 49-
Silver Lake (Amador Co.), 190
Sime, John, 293, 295
398
INDEX
Sime, Mrs. John, 293, 295
Simpson, Alexander, 98, 106, 109- 11 passim
Simpson, Sir George, 99-112 passim, 115, 117-
18, 243-58 passim
Sinclair, Isabella. See Steven, Mrs. William
Sinclair, William, 257
"Sixteen to One," in California (1895), 49-50
Smartsville, 235, 241
Smith, A. J., 223, 231
Smith, Ann Elizabeth. See Peckham, Robert F.
Smith, Anna. See Jamison, Mrs. Stephen
Smith, Caroline. See Bigle[y], Mrs. John
Smith, Edward P., 162-63
Smith, Henry, 292
Smith, Mrs. Henry, 292
Smith, Jedediah, 1 18-123 P<^ssim
Smith, Peter, 116
Smith, William (of Hudson's Bay Co.), 247-
49i 257
Snake River expeditions, 118-20 passim
Snyder, Jacob R., 373
Soberanes, Doiia Maria Ignacia. See Bale, Mrs.
Edward T.
Sokol, A. E., author of California: A Pos-
sible Derivation of the Name, 23-30; 92
(biog. note)
Sola, P. v., 258
Solano (Indian), 264
Somers, Fred W., 10
South Africa, gold discoveries in, 277-78
Spalding, Josiah, 108
Spangled Gold Gulch, 335
Sparks, Matthew, 237, 242
Spear, Nathan, 253, 257, 266-67
Spence, David, 100, 102, 108, 246, 260-61, 262
Spicer, Edwin, 292
Spicer, Mrs. Edwin, 292
Spokane House, 1 17-18
Sponknabel, William, 239
Stace, Elizabeth. See Davis, Mrs. Stephen
State archives, preservation of, 143-50
"Steamboat Papers," in San Francisco (1859),
136
Steamers, to Orient, 357, 359
Stearns, Abel, 196, 260
Stearns, J. H., 66
Stern, Madeleine B., author of Anton Roman,
1-18; 92 (biog. note)
Steuart. See Stewart; Stuart
Steven, William, 294
Steven, Mrs. William, 294
Stevenson, J. D., 60
Stewart, William M., 195-96
Stidger, O. P., 238
Still, John H. See Burgess, Gilbert & Still
Stockton, Robert F., 342
Stockraising, in Napa Valley, 269
Stoddard, Charles Warren, 6, 8
Stokes, James, 261, 268
Stokes, Santiago. See Stokes, James
Stoneman, Capt. — , 340
Story, Charles R., 293
Story, Mrs. Charles R., 293
Stowell, Levi, diary of (concluded), 57, 68
Streeter, William A., 263
Stuart, James, 213, 229
Stuart, Reginald R., editor of The Burrell
Letters, 297-322
Stubbs, J. C, 375
Sturreneger [?] See Sturzenneger
Sturzenneger, John, 292
Sturzenneger, Mrs. John, 292
Sublette, William L., 119
Sumner, Edwin V., 166-70 passim
Sutter, John Augustus, letter of, to S. C. Mas-
sett, ^6\ contract with Russians, no, 245;
mill, appearance of (Jan. 1855), 295
Sutter, Mrs. John Augustus, 295
Sutton, Owen P., 58
Swartwout, Henry, 221, 230
Sweetland, 234, 236
Sylve, Madora. See Beauchamp, Mrs. Leander
Szabo, Janos, 130, 133, 141
Table Rock, treaty with Indians signed at, 231
Taggart, Harold F., author of Thomas Vin-
cent Cator (concluded) 47-55
Tailholt, 377-78
Tallant, D. J., 116
Tallow. See Hides and tallow
Tasso (ship), iio-iii
Taylor, William, 291
Tea culture, in California, 5
Teal, Hiram, 104, in
Tefft, Henry A., 193, 195, 196, 361, 362
Tehama Theater (Sacramento), 295
Telephone, "first" long distance, 241. See also
Ridge Telephone Line
Tenaya (Indian chief), 332
Texas and California, as new states, similar
disorders in, 74 ff
Textbooks. See Schoolbooks
Tharp, E. H., 63
Theater, in San Francisco: (1851) 36-37;
(1859) 133-34
INDEX
399
Thomas, Rev. E., 163
Thomas Vincent Cator, Populist Leader of
California, by Harold F. Taggart, 47-55
Thompson, - (Capt. of the Convoy), 123
Thompson, Alpheus B., 114, 254, 258
Thompson, Ambrose W., 359
Thompson, Isaac, 292
Thompson, Mrs. Isaac, 292
Thorne, Emily. See Bingham, Mrs. Charles
Edward
Thorne, Marco, ed. of Bound for the Land
OF Canaan, Ho! (concluded), 57-68
Thornton, J. Quinn, 324
Threlkeld, Mrs. Melville C, 375-76
Tierce, defined, no
Timothy Dwight Hunt and His Wedding
Records, by Clifford M. Drury, 289-96
Tingley, Mary, 6-7
Toland, Mary L. See Sime, Mrs. John
Tolle, Mrs. Mary A. See Freer, Mrs. Henry A.
Tong wars, 343-50
Townsend, —,355
Townsend, Edward D., 204
Tracy, F. P., 66
Trembley, David, 294
Trembley, Mrs. David, 294
Trimble Road (Santa Clara Co.), 318
Trinidad Bay. See Pelican Bay
Trinity Indians. See Klamath Indians
Tubbs, Alfred L., 294
Tubbs, Mrs. Alfred L., 294
Tula Lake. See Tule Lake
Tularerios Indians, 323-41 passim
Tule Lake, 228
Tule River War, 338
Turner, Charles C, 342
Turtle soup, in San Francisco (1851), 39
Tyrrell, Samuel, 93
Tyrrell, Mrs. Samuel, 93
Umpqua Mountains, travel over, 209, 212, 228
Umpqua River, trapping on, 119, 251, 256
Unicor?i (steamship), 62, 66
Union Hotel (Sonoma), 382
United States Hotel, 254
University of the Pacific, medical department
of, 142
Urnay. See Uznay
Unknown River. See Humboldt River
Uznay, Karoly, 130-31, 137, 141
Vallejo, Juan A., 114
Vallejo, Mariano Guadalupe, 104, in -14 pas-
sim, 193, 243, 245, 254, 260-69 P^issim
Vallejo, Rosalia. See Leese, Mrs. Jacob P.
Vallejo, Salvador, 259-60, 263-69 passim
Valley field (Hudson's Bay Co. ship), 247, 248,
256
Van Arsdale, J. A., 381
Van Arsdale, William Wilson, 381
Vancouver (bark), 107, 249-53 passim
"Vanderbilt route," to California, 309, 313, 320
Van Voorhies, William, 58-68 passim
Van Wyck, John, 219, 230
Vas, Count Samu. See Wass, Count Samu
Vermuele, Thomas L., 195-96
Vigilance Committee: (1851), 42-43; (1856),
71,82, 151-53
Vinsonhaler, L. D., 334
Virgin River, 1 24
Volcanic eruptions, effects encountered by
B. R. Alden, 205-206, 227
Von Camap, Robert, 294
Von Carnap, Mrs. Robert, 294
Voros, Jozsef, 137-38, 142
Waddell, John, 286
Waddell, William Bradford, 286
Wadsworth, Charles, 10
Wagner, Henry R., author of Recollections
OF Templeton Crocker, This Society's
Founder, 364-66
Walker, Joel P., 196
Ward, Abba. See Kent, Mrs. Edward A.
Warren, Henry S., 293
Warren, Mrs. Henry S., 293
Wass, Count Samu, 126, 130, 131, 141
Wass, Molitor & Co., 141
Wass, Uznay & Co., 141
Waste, William H., 381
Watermelons, 237
Waters, Eliza. See Batturs, Mrs. Edward T.
Waters, Joseph N. H., 294
Waters, Mrs. Joseph N. H., 294
Waters, William P., 64
Watkins, W. T., 337
Watoka (Indian chief), 335-36
Watson, John H., 59, 66
Wave (ship), 256
Wayman, Theodore, 238, 242
Weber, Anna Barbara. See Marti, Mrs. Bene-
dict
Wedding records, kept by T. Dwight Hunt,
289-96
Weick, Charles H., 337
Wentworth, May, 7
Wessells, H. W., 231
Westward Ho! (clipper), 314-16 passim, 320
Wetmore, C. E., 290
400
INDEX
Wetsel, Francis Theodore, 293
Wetsel, Mrs. Francis Theodore, 293
Wheat, in California (1841), 10 1, 108, 109
Wheeler, O. C, 291, 304
Wheelock & Wilcocks (publishers), 142
Wheelock's Trading Station, 228
Whiggery, in California (1849) , 58
White, Stephen M., 47, 52
White, Thomas J., 63
Whitney, — , 292
Whitney, Mrs. — , 292
Widdleton, William J., A. Roman's New York
agent, 11, 13
Wilbur, Ray Lyman, In Memoriam, 279-81
Wilbur, Mrs. Ray Lyman, 280
Williams, Albert, 291
Williams, Delia F. See Page, Mrs. Robert C.
Williams, Henry Fairfax, 58-68 passim
Williams, Isaac, 189, 293
Williams, Mrs. Isaac, 189
Williams, James, 293
Williams, Mrs. James (former Harriet Lewis) ,
293
Williams, James (brother of Isaac Williams),
293
Williams, Mrs. James (former Mary Patter-
son), 293
Williams, James G., 382
Williams, Julian. See Williams, Isaac
Williams, Mary Floyd, 364
Williamson, R. S., 214, 229
Wills, Mrs. Elizabeth Maria Bonney, author
of ode (1850), 34
Wilson, Caroline. See Chambers, Mrs. Thom-
as J. A.
Wilson, John, 115, 246, 255
Wilson, Mrs. John, 255
Wilson, Joseph, 113
Wines, Hungarian, in California, 138-41
Winn, Adolphus Gustavus, 94
Winn, Albert Maver, 93-94, 190
Winn Park (Sacramento), 94
Woahoo. See Oahu
Women, in early California, 31-32, 77
Wood, David I., 242
Wood, James, 325
Wood, Robert S. S., 292
Wood, Mrs. Robert S. S., 292
Wood's Crossing, 325
Woodville, Joseph Shannon, 292
Woodville, Mrs. Joseph Shannon, 292
Woolsey, John L., 294
Woolsey, Mrs. John L., 294
Wores, Joseph. See Voros, Jozsef
Work, John, 123, 124
Wozencraft, O. M., 328-40 passim
Wright, F., 66
Wright, George, 212, 214, 215, 220, 228
Wynn, Charles H., 189
Wynn, Mrs. Charles H., 189
Xantus, Janos, 125-42
Yeast, manufacture of (1853), in Yreka, 213,
229
Yerba Buena, village of ( 1842) , 246, 250 ff, 266,
289-90
Yorke, Father Peter, 55
Yosemites (Indians), 331-32
Young, Ewing, 122, 124
Yount, George, 262-68 passim
Yreka, 210-32 passim, 356 ff
Yreka Mountain Herald, 216, 225, 230, 231
Yuba River, middle fork, flood on (1883),
233-42
Zamorano, A. V., 257
Zopfe, Rosina. See Sturzenneger, Mrs. John
ERRATA
Page 1 1, line 18, jor Carlton read Carleton.
Facing page 128, in legend, jor army read navy.
Page 162, line 2 from foot, jor 27 read 159.
Page 184, line 9 from foot, jor Edwin read Erwin.
Page 193, line 12 and 17, jor Sainsevaine read Sainsevain; line 8 from foot, jor W. H, read
H.W.
Page 195, last line, jor McDonegal read McDougal
Page 229, note 34, mistake in identification: Capt. Alden's reference is undoubtedly to Gen.
Andrew Jackson. (The editor's thanks to Col. Fred B. Rogers for pointing this out.)
Page 324, line 5, jor Edward read Edwin.
Page 338, line 7 from foot, jor father read brother.
ANTON ROMAN
Reproduced from the Overland Monthly, XL (Sept. 1902), p. 205
Anton Roman
Argonaut of Books
By Madeleine B. Stern
IN December of 185 1, a bearded miner with thick hair and a prominent
nose might have been seen strolHng about San Francisco.^ In Brenham
Place on the west side of the plaza he paused before the bookstore of
Burgess, Gilbert and Still; and, though he had no intention of making any
purchases, he entered the shop. The clerk was interested in his visitor's
tales of the miners at Scott Bar, whence he had come. More particularly,
he showed an extreme fondness for books; and in short order the conversa-
tion between miner and clerk culminated in a business transaction whereby
over a hundred ounces of gold dust, the current earnings of the miner's
share of a claim on Scott Bar, were exchanged for books.^ Though neither
the clerk nor the miner was probably aware of it, that little transaction
opened an important page in the history of bookselling and publishing on
the west coast.
The miner's name was Anton Roman. Born in Bavaria some twenty-three
years before, he had migrated to America in his youth and in 1 849 crossed
the plains to California. He had joined the gold seekers on the Trinity at
Weaverville, along the Klamath, in Siskiyou, and in the northern regions
of Shasta, striking rich diggings at Scott Bar. Roman had washed more than
dust from the sand at Scott Bar, however. He had lived among traders and
prospectors, had worked the rich placers, had been on hand at the Scott Bar
decision between rival mining groups, had seen a claim opened and gold
extracted with iron spoons, and he had seen pans filled with solid gold; but
he had observed, too, the bustling camps, the stores, the saloons, the hotels,
and had pocketed a fund of mining anecdotes along with his gold, anecdotes
with which he would one day regale a young writer named Bret Harte.^
A PEDDLER'S PROGRESS THROUGH THE MINING CAMPS
At the moment, Roman's problem was to dispose not of anecdotes but of
books. During the winter months in the Shasta mining region, he knew that
prospectors could be induced to exchange their gold for reading matter,
and so Anton Roman peddled his wares from camp to camp, with such
success that he soon decided to abandon mining for migratory bookselling.*
From Eureka he moved on to Shasta City, during the golden period when
the town was almost as proud of its stores as of its diggings. In the Shasta
Courier of March 12, 1853,^ Roman inserted an advertisement of his Shasta
Book Store, opposite El Dorado Hotel, where new books might be pur-
chased wholesale and retail, and where might be found at all times
a large and splendid assortment of Books and Stationery ... at the lowest prices.
2 California Historical Society Quarterly
Among the late works just received are the following: The Necromances, Parricide . . .
Fair Rosamond, Amy Lawrence, Mad Cap . . . Stanley Thorn . . . &c. Also, the works
of Shakspeare, Byron, Milton, Gray, Campbell and other distinguished poets. All the
latest newspapers, both home and foreign, constantly on hand.
In addition, musical instruments were available at the Shasta Book Store,
for the proprietor had "just received an assortment of . . . Flutes, Flagelets,
Clarionets," as well as note and song books and violin and guitar strings.
A. Roman hoped, "by strict attention to his business, to merit a continuance
of the patronage heretofore bestowed on him," and his hopes were realized,
for by the fall of 1853 his purchases in books and stationery for the three
counties of Shasta, Trinity, and Siskiyou amounted to $42,000. It was appar-
ently simpler to extract gold dust from a miner than from a mine.
ROMAN SETS UP HIS STAND IN SAN FRANCISCO
It was not until 1857 that Roman left the northern counties, and, having
purchased a large stock of standard and miscellaneous books in the eastern
cities, set up his stand in San Francisco. His trade covered about a dozen
of the interior counties besides the city, and by 1859 he had so expanded
that, with a still larger stock, he opened a permanent store on the west side
of Montgomery Street, north of California.^ The migratory bookseller
had settled down, a fact to which the San Francisco Directory of i860
bears evidence, for there "Anthony" Roman is listed as an "importer and
wholesale bookseller" at 158 Montgomery Block and 78 and 80 Merchant.''
Roman had learned, in the years that had elapsed since his eventful pur-
chase from Burgess, Gilbert and Still, that demand governs supply and that
books to be bought must be needed. The books he sold, therefore, answered
the requirements of a newly expanding community on the Pacific coast.
The farming settlements near the seaboard were attracting immigrants;
prospective settlers would want information about their new home. If
books on the subject were not available, they could be printed, and Anton
Roman, importer and wholesale bookseller, could enter into a new phase
of his career, that of publisher.
CALIFORNIANA FOR CALIFORNIANS
One of the earliest books bearing the Roman imprint was An Outline of
the History of Calif ornia, from the Discovery of the Country to the Year
1849. The little paper volume consisted of an address delivered by Edmund
Randolph before the Society of California Pioneers at their celebration of
the tenth anniversary of the admission of the state into the Union. Printed
at the Alta California Job OfRce, the work was published by Roman in
i860, and marked the beginning of a long line of books that were designed
to instruct gold-seekers and settlers about the history and resources of
their new state.® Roman was akin with John S. Hittell, who wrote in the
preface to the first edition of his Resources of California:
Anton Roman 3
I undertake to write the resources of a state, which, though young in years, small
in population, and remote from the chief centres of civilization, is yet known to the
furthest corners of the earth, and, during the last twelve years, has had an influence
upon the course of human life, and the prosperity and trade of nations, more powerful
than that exerted during the same period by kingdoms whose subjects are numbered by
millions.^
The publisher had been quick to seize the opportunity of sponsoring this
book, the extended title of which was The Resources of California, com-
prising Agriculture, Mining, Geography, Climate, Commerce . . . and the
Past and Future Development of the State; and his interest was justified,
for it passed through several editions, a compendium by, for, and of the
Californian. In the third edition of 1867, is an affidavit stating the "book
is exclusively Californian in composition and manufacture," from the paper
and pasteboard to the morocco, thread, and gold leaf. Through the years,
Roman published similar books: Mowry's Geography and Resources of
Arizona and Sonora; Ferris's Financial Economy of the United States Illus-
trated, and Some of the Causes Which Retard The Progress of California
Demonstrated; A Youth^s History <9f C^/f/(9r72/> by "Lucia Norman" [Louise
Palmer Heaven]; Cremony's Life Among the Apaches, dedicated by the
Indian fighter "To the Pioneer and Liberal Publisher, Anton Roman, The
Zealous and Enterprising Friend of Literature on the Pacific Coast."^^
GUIDES FOR PROSPECTIVE SETTLERS
By 1868 he had indeed become a pioneer publisher, who watched the
expansion of the state and provided books that would inform prospective
settlers of the nature of the west coast. In a prefatory note to Hutchings's
Scenes of Wonder and Curiosity in California, the publisher later explained
his point of view:
Since the completion and appointments of the great Overland Railway have made
travelling to the Pacific Slope easy, pleasant, speedy, and safe, a general desire has
arisen for information concerning its remarkable scenery, the cost of travelling, dis-
tances, hotel charges, etc.^i
This general desire Roman fulfilled, giving to the public in well-printed
volumes, bound in cloth or paper, a variety of works ranging from Morse's
Treatise on the Hot Sulphur Springs, of El Paso De Robles to Stillman's
Seeking the Golden Fleece; A Record of Pioneer Life in California. Not
Stillman's book alone, but, metaphorically at least, all these publications
were dedicated to the "Argonauts of California," who, at prices ranging
from fifty cents to three dollars, could receive by mail, post-paid, the liter-
ature that would inform them of the resources of their new home. In some
of these books, such as A Sketch of the Route to California, China And
Japan, via the Isth?nus of Panama, Roman's device was printed on the title-
page: surmounting his initials was the grizzly bear; below them, in a signifi-
cant union, the miner's pan, pick and shovel.
4 California Historical Society Quarterly
ROMAN'S LITERARY NUGGETS FOR MINERS
In the broader aspects of his publishing activities, Roman had not for-
gotten the miners.
The rapid extension of Silver Mining enterprise, in consequence of numerous dis-
coveries of rich and extensive silver-bearing lodes in California, . . . has excited a general
desire for information of such methods of extracting Silver and Gold from the . . . ores,
as are practical and adapted to our circumstances.^^
Although the name of Frank D. Carlton, Roman's associate, appeared on
the imprint of Kiistel's Nevada and California Processes of Silver and Gold
Extraction, Roman advertised and circulated the book, and, in addition, it
was he who published Gregory Yale's important and authoritative Legal
Titles to Mining Claims and Water Rights, in California, Roman had not
forgotten the Scott Bar case, nor the necessity for prospectors to learn the
principles governing the laws on mining property. Another volume bearing
the Roman imprint was William Barstow's Sulphurets, designed to help
miners make their own assays. Besides entering the publishing field with
such works, Roman had for sale in his Montgomery bookstore a remarkable
collection of volumes on minerals and their processing.^^ There miners
might exchange their gold dust for manuals, and reap benefit from the
transaction.
ORIENTALIA FOR CALIFORNIA'S ASIATICS
As the completion of the "great Overland Railway" stimulated the need
for books on western resources in general, so the discovery of new lodes
caused specialization in allied and other phases of mining. Upon the suc-
cessful pioneer voyage of the Pacific Mail SS. Colorado to Hong Kong
in 1867, a third field had become open to publishers. China was brought
closer to California than ever before; and this fact, together with the pres-
ence of a great many Chinese in the state, emphasized the need for "books
to enable one to understand their character."^* This need the enterprising
publisher^^ was eager to fill, his imprint appearing on A. W. Loomis's
edition of Confucius and the Chinese Classics— the first book, by the way,
printed from stereotype plates in California. As Roman declared:
No question is more frequently asked by curious and thinking people than this:
What is the literature of the Chinese? They are a reading people; then what do they
read? They are a peculiar people; what has made them so? They are an unchanging
people; what is it that has fixed their habits? ^^
Loomis's compilation would answer those questions, while still another
work published by Roman, Lanctot's Chinese and English Phrase Book, was
designed
to enable all classes of citizens, especially merchants, shipmasters, contractors, families,
and travelers to acquire an elementary and practical knowledge of the spoken language
of the Canton dialect . . . the dialect most generally understood by all classes of Chinese
immigrants on the Pacific Coast.^'''
The author— and, one might add, the publisher— had been induced to un-
Anton Roman 5
dertake the work because of "a daily increasing necessity, consequent upon
the extended employment of Chinese, and the now established regular line
of communication with China and Japan." In the preface to his own com-
pilation, Loomis had stated that, to meet the demands for understanding the
Chinese "... a Book Firm of this city has spared no pains or expense to
bring together as complete a collection of works on China as was possible.
Such as were not to be obtained at home have been ordered from abroad."^®
The name of that book firm must have been apparent to all, for Roman
had established in his Montgomery Street bookstore a section devoted to
Orientalia. There one might have found Hue's Travels in Tartary or Davis's
China and the Chinese, books on Yedo and Peking, or Upper and Lower
Amoor, a dictionary of the Chinese language, or a tome on the Middle
Kingdom.^^
ROMAN'S BOOKS ON USES OF THE SOIL
It was not the merchants only who wished to learn something of the
Asiatic industries adapted to California. The fertility of the soil along the
western seaboard was attracting farmers to the coast, and for them Roman
published Kendo's Treatise on Silk and Tea Culture. "As there is, at this
time, much attention being paid to the cultivation, in this State, of many
trees, shrubs and other vegetable productions heretofore only grown ex-
tensively in Japan and the Orient,"^'^ Kendo's treatise was issued to acquaint
the farmers of California with the requirements of the plants named in the
title, and to give advice on the growing of mulberry and persimmon trees.
For the more general uses of farmers, Roman added to his bookstore a
•section on horticulture, where they might find works on garden vegetables
or greenhouses, facts about peat and grape culture, farm implements or
landscape gardening. There were shelves devoted to the mysteries of bee-
keeping, to poultry, to horses, cattle and sheep, because the soil and climate
of California were attracting homesteaders, just as its placers had attracted
the men with pan and shovel.
SCHOOLBOOKS FOR THE NEW GENERATION
As the years passed, another need made itself felt among California set-
tlers. They were raising not only horses and grapes and roses, but children,
too; and Roman, enterprising and public-spirited as ever, was ready to
enrich his own coffers by facilitating the education of youth. For their
amusement he published the Inglenook and Golden Gate series, and text-
books for their instruction.^^ The children's stories that appeared over his
imprint were adapted to, and concerned with, California. In them, Roman
advertised, Californians would "recognize many familiar places and per-
sonages." "Elegantly illustrated from original designs," Roman's California
juveniles rolled from the press— May Wentworth's Fairy Tales from Gold
Land, Carrie Carlton's Inglenook, Clara Dolliver's Candy Elephant— 2Lnd
6 California Historical Society Quarterly
with them were issued such texts as Layres' Elements of Composition, or
Carrie Carlton's Popular Letter Writer, "particularly adapted to the wants
of California." The children's teachers were urged to call and examine the
textbooks and pedagogic apparatus.
ROMAN AND THE LITERARY DEVELOPMENT OF CALIFORNIA
Less practical than treatises on mining or agriculture, of less immediate
need than works on Oriental customs or school texts, books for relaxation
began to find a place on Roman's crowded shelves.^^ Besides selling standard
literary treasures, he himself published works of fiction, such as novels by
"Laura Preston" [Louise Palmer Heaven] and Mrs. Embury; also volumes
of poetry, in order to encourage native talent and to manifest to the world
the possibilities of Californiana. James Linen's Poetical and Prose Writings
included accounts of the missions of Upper California; Patterson's Onward:
a Lay of the West sketched "a hasty picture of our great and growing West,
at this period of its magical progress";^^ and the poem, Madrona, was
"conceived and begun during a trip made by the author through the pic-
turesque County of Sonoma."^* The Poems of Charles Warren Stoddard^^
appeared in an elegant edition, illustrated by William Keith and printed by
Bosqui on the finest paper, with a subscription list including nearly every
well-known name in the professional and social circles of California.
OUTCROPPINGS: A TEMPEST IN A LITERARY TEAPOT
Another verse collection, published by Roman and now a bibliographical
rarity, gave rise to as much excitement as the discovery of a new lode, and
paved the way for a general interest in the literary enterprises of California.
The story behind its publication is of extreme interest.^^ One Mary Tingley,
having filled a large folder with clippings culled from periodicals, had of-
fered the collection to Anton Roman, who held it for possible publication.
Having become acquainted with Bret Harte, the publisher requested the
young man to edit the collection and obtain additions to it. The arrange-
ments between them were not very clear, for after its publication Harte
was to write to Roman:
From your remarks concerning the cost of the volume . . . am I to infer that you
propose to recompense me from the profits of the edition? I do not think we made
any agreement whatever as to the amount or manner of remuneration, but I certainly
cannot consent to any that is to be contingent upon the success of the volume, if that
is your intention.^^
Whatever the intention, the book appeared as a small quarto, beautifully
printed on fine, tinted paper, handsomely bound in cloth, priced at one
dollar, and entitled Outcroppings: Being Selectiojis Of California Verse.
Today it is of interest as the first book with which Bret Harte was asso-
ciated. In December 1865, when it first appeared, it proved of interest
for another reason. "Its contents," Harte's preface explained, "have been
Anton Roman 7
selected partly from contributions made by local poets to the California
newspapers during the past ten years, and partly from material collected
three years ago for a similar volume, by Miss M. V. Tingley."^^
That Miss Tingley objected to the work, disavowing Roman's right to
use her selections, is understandable. That the poems of Ina D. Coolbrith,
Emilie Lawson, B. P. Avery, J. R. Ridge, C. H. Webb, and other local
litterateurs should have called down upon the head of the compiler a storm
of abuse is less comprehensible today. None the less, there was "Commotion
on Parnassus" when Outcroppings made its bow. Within two hours after
its arrival was bruited abroad, a mob of poets besieged Roman's bookstore,
all eager to learn whether their effusions had been immortalized among the
selected gems. Outcroppings had become "the salient literary topic of the
day." Heralded as a "beautiful specimen of typography," it was also con-
demned both for the geological character of its title and the limited nature
of its contents. According to one paper, Outcroppings was "a Bohemian
advertising medium for Webb, Harte & Co. As a collection of California
poetry, it is beneath contempt."^^ The contempt was aired, however, and
the newspapers enjoyed a field day at the expense of Roman's little gift
book. "All of which," the editor astutely observed, "ought to make the
volume sell."^^ It did more than that. While Ward's Furnishing Store, with
tongue in cheek, issued "Outcroppings No. 2, by A Rum-Un & Co.," Hubert
Howe Bancroft was quick to publish a rival anthology. Poetry of the
Pacific. Edited by May Wentworth, this collection was, as its title indi-
cates, more complete and ambitious in scope than Roman's undertaking.
Though many of the authors were the same as in Outcroppings, and though
their utterances paid similar tribute to such poetic staples as autumn, love,
and trees. Poetry of the Pacific was, quantitatively at least, superior to its
predecessor in the field. Decades later, Harte recalled the excitement attend-
ing the publication of Outcroppings, in his My First Book; but long before
that, the anthology had spread Roman's reputation abroad and had indi-
cated to him the interest respecting California that a native literary work
might arouse. By 1868, even a Bancroft publication could declare that "the
leading publishing houses in California are those of H. H. Bancroft & Co.
and A. Roman & Co."^^ It was time for Anton Roman, miner, bookseller
and publisher, to embark upon yet another enterprise, and to prove— if
proof were needed— that California was rich not only in its natural resources
but in its literary products as well.
ROMAN LAUNCHES THE OVERLAND MONTHLY
He himself needed no such proof. His bookselHng and publishing activi-
ties had acquainted him with many of the writers of the coast. Manuscripts
were constantly being submitted to him, and he was confident that abundant
material, not suitable for publication in book form, would be valuable for
8 California Historical Society Quarterly
use in a magazine. Shortly before his death, Roman explained the purposes
behind his entrance into the field of magazine publishing:
I considered the geographical position of San Francisco and California, the large
extent of territory surrounding it, its immense seacoast both on the American side and
across the Pacific Here I saw an opportunity for a magazine that would furnish
information for the development of our new State and all this great territory, to make
itself of such value that it could not fail to impress the West, and the East also.^^
Financial support and advertising patronage were sought by means of
the following circular (paragraphing omitted):
A. Roman & Co. propose taking immediate steps for issuing a first-class monthly
magazine, the first number to appear July ist, 1868. The nature and character of the
magazine will embrace, to the fullest extent, the commercial and social interests of
California and the Pacific Coast. We ask your assistance in this enterprise in the shape
of an advertisement of your business for the term of one year, which we think will
fully repay you. Our intentions are to have every article original; to employ only the
best talent in the country; to pay for every article; and to distribute 3000 copies
monthly, until its permanent circulation reaches or exceeds this number. The rates of
advertising will be $50 per page monthly, or $25 for a half page.^^
The circular brought in contracts for advertising which would assure the
magazine an income of $900 monthly for a year. With such support, and
with the confidence that he himself could procure at least half the articles
for the first six numbers of the magazine, Roman was ready to seek an
editor.
Charles Warren Stoddard, whose Poems Roman had published, recom-
mended the writer who had edited Outcroppings and who was then serving
as secretary of the U. S. branch mint— Bret Harte. Harte entertained some
doubts about the project, and, to win him over, Roman indicated, on a
map of the two hemispheres in his office, the central position of San Fran-
cisco on the Pacific coast, and its potential influence upon the entire terri-
tory. The prospective editor was convinced. Harte had visited Roman at
the moment when the publisher was considering a change of die for the
cover. The line-cut of the grizzly now seemed too unadorned and Roman
desired some alteration. Harte took out a pencil and drew two lines beneath
the bear, placing it on the tracks of the Pacific Railroad. If Roman had
entertained any doubts about Harte's abilities, they were dispelled by this
inspired touch. Both editor and publisher were ready to proceed with a
magazine that needed only a title, and this, too, was supplied by Harte, who
dubbed the periodical the Overland Monthly.
The first number of the Overland Monthly Devoted to the Development
of the Country appeared in July 1868. Harte's editorial section, entitled
"Etc.," explained the reason for its name:
Shall not the route be represented as well as the termini? And where our people
travel, that is the highway of our thought . . . what could be more appropriate for the
title of a literary magazine than to call it after this broad highway? 3*
Noah Brooks, who had agreed to serve as a joint editor with Harte and
Anton Roman 9
W. C. Bartlett, contributed "The Diamond Makers of Sacramento"; B. P.
Avery discussed "Art Beginnings on the Pacific"; and a poem, "San Fran-
cisco," was supplied by Harte. The section on Current Literature included
the review of a Roman publication, Swift's Going to Jericho. The Overland
Monthly, priced at four dollars a year, with appropriate reductions in the
rates for clubs, had been launched.
ANTON ROMAN AND BRET HARTE
Perhaps one of the most interesting concomitants of the enterprise was
Roman's relationship with Bret Harte. Roman wished to obtain from Harte
a story for at least every other number. This plan threw publisher and
editor together much of the time; and, as they journeyed by train up and
down Santa Clara Valley or rode across the Santa Cruz Mountains by
stagecoach, Roman shared with Harte his anecdotes and reminiscences of
the gold rush, pointing out to him their literary possibilities.
The results of this association appeared in the second number of the
Overland in the form of "The Luck of Roaring Camp." At Santa Cruz,
Harte had outlined the tale to Roman, and one Sunday afternoon the
duplicate galley proofs arrived on the stagecoach. Roman's wife, Eliza
Fletcher Roman, read the story aloud to him until she was too affected to
continue. The next day, upon his return to San Francisco, Roman was
greeted by his chief clerk with the announcement that the proofreader,
Mrs. Sarah B. Cooper, had objected to the immorality of "The Luck."
Roman decided to print the story, none the less, and it became the sensation
of the day.^^ By October 1868, Harte could write in "Etc.":
The prophet has been honored in his own country. Throughout the Pacific Slope,
from San Diego to Portland; on the Sierras and along the Great Highway . . . wherever
a printing press has been carried or a ream of printing paper packed, the Overland has
been kindly welcomed.^^
What is more, the local talent of the west coast found in it a medium for
their writings, and, through earthquake and sunshine, the Overland pursued
its successful way, crossing the continent on the completed Pacific Railroad.
By the end of its first year, however, Roman fell ill, and at the advice of
his physician left San Francisco for a rest, selling out his proprietorship in
the magazine to John H. Carmany for $7,500, an amount that represented
a profit of $3,000.
By the terms of his contract with Carmany, Roman had agreed not to
enter the magazine field again for ten years. Magazine publishing, however,
was, as he himself described it, "in his bones." At the same time that he had
sponsored the Overland, his imprint appeared on the California Medical
Gazette,^'' a monthly devoted to medicine, surgery, and the collateral sci-
ences. As soon as the ten years had elapsed, therefore, Roman returned to
the field with another venture in periodicals, the Calif ornian, A Western
Monthly Magazine. The first number of January 1880 included an editorial
lo California Historical Society Quarterly
section appropriately called "Outcroppings," in which the publisher intro-
duced his new enterprise:
Keenly alive to the fact that we have here on this coast the elements of a literature
as strong, original, and characteristic, as the people themselves, the projectors of this
periodical warmed it into life ... to stand the exponent of our life and letters, such as
they now are, and such as they may in time become. In the language of its prospectus,
and indicative of its name, "The Californian will be thoroughly Western in its char-
acter, local to this coast in its flavor, representative and vigorous in its style and method
of dealing with questions, and edited for a popular rather than a severely literary
constituency." . . . With ... a sincere desire of arousing a local literary pride among our
people, the new magazine clasps hands with all interested in the working out of a
common and continued prosperity .^s
Under the editorship of Fred W. Somers and later of Charles H. Phelps,
the Californian became a medium for the "outcroppings" of a later genera-
tion of the West, publishing the writings of Joaquin Miller and Ambrose
Bierce. By May 1880, however, Roman was again compelled to yield his
proprietorship in the magazine, this time to the California Publishing Com-
pany for the sum of $275, and, with the revival of the old Overland Monthly,
the Californian was merged with it. Both magazines had been the offshoots
of Anton Roman's confidence and ingenuity, and though he himself was
never to return to the field, he could rest content with the contributions he
had made to periodical publishing on the west coast. He could write:
I have always felt grateful to the public and to the many good friends who readily
and cheerfully . . . aided my endeavors in magazine publishing, but above all to the
many contributors to the early issues, who worked for the success of the enterprise.^^
ROMAN'S BOOKS FOR THE MILLION
In the years that passed between Roman's withdrawal from the Overland
and his connection with the Californian, his bookstore had expanded to
such an extent that it offered works not only for miners and farmers, settlers
and Orientals, children and litterateurs, but for the miUion as well. As a
publisher he had undertaken such travel books as Swift's Going to Jericho;
he had sponsored the writings of local theologians, publishing the sermons
of the San Francisco minister, Charles Wadsworth, and the Scriptural com-
mentaries of the California bishop, William Kip. But, in order to attract the
million, Roman was forced to import and sell. As early as 1861 he had issued
a 259-page Catalogue raisonne, consisting of "a classified collection of prom-
inent standard authors— embracing a wide range . . . and of use to all seeking
the best works in any branch of Literature." As the years passed, the Mont-
gomery Street bookstore became a market for books "for the million,"*^
books standard and miscellaneous, medical and scientific, legal and theo-
logical, books appealing to every class of society and every profession. At
Roman's stand might be found, therefore, the works of eastern publishers,
G. W. Carleton and T. B. Peterson, D. Appleton and Harper, Loring and
Lee and Shepard; so many of the books published in New York, Philadel-
Anton Roman
II
phia and Boston were sold by Anton Roman in San Francisco that he could
advertise "a complete stock in every department of literature." His firm
had agents in London and Paris as well as in New York, from whom ship-
ments were received. Roman's relations with the eastern publishers were
equal, if not superior, to those of any other house on the coast, and he
advertised that thus he was able to supply books in larger quantities and
at cheaper rates than other importers.
ROMAN AND WIDDLETON OF NEW YORK
With one eastern publisher Roman's relations were more closely knit.*^
In 1866 he established, for some six years, a residence in New York, but
even before that date the firm of William J. Widdleton had served as his
New York purchasing agent. Widdleton's business, though somewhat lim-
ited, was substantial, and as the publisher of standard books and belles-
lettres, he had earned a fairly solid reputation. Many of Roman's publica-
tions appear with a double imprint— that of the Montgomery Street estab-
lishment in San Francisco and that of Widdleton at 17 Mercer, and later
at 27 Howard Street, New York. It was through this New York agency
that Roman offered Bret Harte's Condensed Novels to Carlton, and it is on
the back of Widdleton's lists in the Publishers^ Trade List Annual that
Roman's advertisements appear. In addition, Roman could observe pub-
lishing conditions in the East. With Widdleton in particular, he could dis-
cuss the close affiliation of the book and stationery trades, current methods
of book distribution, publicity devices, seasonal trends in books, the growth
of the reprint field, changes in popular taste, the relative appeal of English
novels or American travel books, juveniles or household helps, and could
cull many ideas for California circulation.
CARGOES FOR MONTGOMERY STREET
As a west coast publisher and bookseller Roman needed such an associa-
tion. The books he sold were carried by semi-monthly steamer between
San Francisco and the East; and his relationship with Widdleton provided
him with the best facilities for obtaining the latest issues of the American
and English presses. In other directions, ships for Japan and China, Hono-
lulu and Australia, Mexico and British Columbia carried heavy shipments
of his goods. "We are constantly in receipt of all new publications by
steamer," he advertised, "as fast as issued from the press. Books imported
to order on shortest notice."*^ Roman catered not only to the interests of
the "million," but to their pocketbooks as well, building up his business on
the principle of "quick sales and small profits," and advertising that his
"extensive and elegant assortment" might be purchased "cheap for cash."
The trade was supplied on liberal terms, special inducements were offered
to libraries, and particular care was taken "in filling all wholesale and retail
1 2 California Historical Society Quarterly
orders by mail and express, with promptness and at the lowest cash rates."
Roman was prompt, indeed, as a letter of his sent in 1876 to the publishers
of the New York Tribune indicates:
Do you propose republishing Chas. Reade's Letters on International Copyright in
any form? We have tried to obtain copies of your issues containing the several letters
without success, and as we have repeated inquiries for the letters, either in a collected
or in the original form, we take this means of finding whether you will republish or
not.43
A. ROMAN & COA/IPANY
Roman's letter shows not only his expeditiousness but the status of his
business as well, for it is signed "A. Roman & Co." In his early business
career, Roman had associated with himself Frank D. Carlton, who had had
his training as a clerk with W. T. Coleman & Co., shipping merchants.
Boarding with Frederick McCrellish, publisher of the Alta California,
he became interested in printing and in 1862 had joined Roman's company.
Later on, after Carlton listed himself as a "capitalist" instead of a publisher
in the San Francisco Directories, his place in the firm was taken by Joseph
A. Hofmann, who had served as Roman's chief clerk and afterwards as
salesman in the concern.
A BOOKSTORE DE LUXE IN THE LICK HOUSE BLOCK
In 1 87 1 announcement was made that Messrs. Roman & Co. had removed
from their old quarters to "new and larger premises" at 1 1 Montgomery
Street.** Equipped in lavish style, the store in the Lick House Block dis-
played to its customers a ceiling painted in fresco, fittings of white picked
out with walnut, and the whole "a magnificent temple of letters." The firm
that had long before advertised itself as "the largest miscellaneous book
buyers in this country," and "the only exclusive book store on the Pacific
Coast," now offered its customers, for the Christmas season of that year,
"a royal literary feast." The "noble hall has its long tables covered with
the choicest mental food culled from all climes and served up in the most
magnificent style of binding." A. Roman & Co. could proudly boast, "Here
we are, geographically isolated from the great world's throng, and yet the
greatest cities cannot show a more complete establishment than ours."*^
Besides the books, the annuals, the photograph albums of earlier times,
1 1 Montgomery Street could provide its patrons with Russian leather
portemonnaies, and "a complete trousseau of stationery, from the maiden
card to the family Bible." Furniture, too, was for sale in the Lick House
Block: carved book shelves and brackets, book stands and pouches for the
wall, card stands and ink stands of cut glass or ormolu. The window display
gave an earnest of the riches within; and by that Christmas of 1871, Anton
Roman had reached the zenith of his success. The miner of Scott Bar, the
Anton Roman
13
proprietor of the Shasta Book Store, had come a long way in twenty years.
FAILURE AND BANKRUPTCY, AND A NEW START
The general panic of 1873 resulted in a continued business depression
on the Pacific coast, which, by 1879, had affected booksellers as well as
farmers and industrialists. In consequence of this economic crisis, an an-
nouncement was made in April 1879 that A. Roman & Co. had made an
assignment for the benefit of their creditors.*^ The firm's liabilities were
estimated at from $85,000 to $90,000; their nominal assets at $80,000, con-
sisting of about $15,000 in book accounts and the balance in stock and
claims in equity. At the same time, W. J. Widdleton disposed of the bulk
of his publications to A. C. Armstrong and discontinued his service as
Roman's New York agent.
Roman's failure did not overwhelm him. Enthusiastic and venturesome
as ever, he emerged from bankruptcy as the A. Roman Publishing Com-
pany, 511 California Street, and by 1882 had opened an agency in room 15,
120 Sutter Street. In order to give the widest possible publicity to his
undertaking, the publishers of the Calijornian, which he himself had pro-
jected, announced that
Mr. Roman has again started in business as bookseller and publisher . . . and ... is pre-
pared to supply anything and everything in his line, from a sheet of note-paper to a
complete library in bindings warranted to match the carpet. We mention this last
with the special purpose of influencing the patronage of our rich men in his favor.* '^
Such patronage, however, does not seem to have been extended to him.
It was less as bookseller and publisher that he resumed business than as
general agent for subscription books. Roman had earlier in his career served
as agent for the National Almanac and Annual Record^ the publications
of the Sunday School Union, and the California Mail Bag. He had also
handled subscription books, such as Palmer Cox's Squibs of California and
Hugh Quigley's Irish Race in California, and he had been the San Francisco
agent for the first edition of Mark Twain's Roughing It. Along such lines
he continued his business during the i88o's, no longer in a "magnificent
temple of letters," but in a single room on Sutter Street. By that decade,
however, the handling of subscription books had fallen into disrepute, and
this aspect of the book business, impinging as it did upon the regular trade,
had not only become the object of attack but was less lucrative than it
had once been. Roman's first imprint had appeared in i860 on The Still
Hour by Austin Phelps, a work copyrighted by Gould and Lincoln and
offering "standard thoughts" on religious subjects. His last imprint ap-
peared in 1 886 on a book far more characteristic of his own interests, Walter
M. Leman's Memories of an Old Actor, for Leman's memories embraced
the Sacramento Theater and the San Francisco theatricals of 1854. Though
Roman never wrote his "Memories of an Old Publisher," he might well
14 Calif ornia Historical Society Quarterly
have recorded his history then, for by 1888 he had abandoned the book
field forever.*^ I
At that time, and until his death in 1903, Roman appears in the San I
Francisco Directories as real estate agent, dealer in city and country prop- '
erty and timber lands, and loan broker. At first with Arthur H. Breed
(with whom, as Holcomb, Breed and Bancroft, Harlow P. Bancroft,
nephew of H. H. Bancroft, became associated after the turn of the century) ,
Anton Roman sold the land he had loved instead of the volumes that had
been written about it.
On June 21, 1903, he accompanied his son and daughter to a funeral,
traveling on the North Shore Railroad. A car was derailed near Tomales,
and among the victims of the wreck whose injuries proved fatal was the
seventy-five-year-old Anton Roman.*®
Roman had been naturalized in Shasta County during the summer of
1885.^° In reality, he had been naturalized long before that. Although his
activities were neither so elaborate nor his reputation so celebrated as Ban-
croft's, his choice of publications served as a kind of marker with respect
to the progress of the Pacific coast. In this way Roman's career was both
a parallel and a herald to the story of westward expansion, and the narrative
of his life reaffirms the sometimes forgotten American tradition which
asserts that every man is a debtor not only to his profession but to his
country. This miner from Bavaria, who crossed the plains to seek gold,
enriched the land of his adoption; for when he placed his initials between
the grizzly bear and the pick, pan and shovel decorating his trade device,
he took up the task of argonaut in the broad sense, of adventurer after
the treasure to be found in a literary El Dorado.
NOTES
1. A photograph of Roman is reproduced in Noah Brooks, "Bret Harte: A Bio-
graphical and Critical Sketch," Overland Monthly, XL (Sept. 1902), 205.
2. For Roman's purchase of books from Burgess, Gilbert & Still, see "Reminiscences
of Bret Harte (a symposium: 'The Genesis of the Overland Monthly,' signed by Anton
Roman)," ibid., p. 220; and Henry R. Wagner's "Commercial Printers of San Francisco
from 1851 to 1880," Papers, Bibliogr. Soc. Am., XXXIII (1939), 76.
3. Roman's early life and mining activities are described in Idwal Jones, "The Man
from Scott Bar," Westways (June 1948), pp. 8-9; "Anton Roman," San Francisco
Chronicle, June 22, 1903; "Anton A. Roman, Romance of Early Days in His Life,"
San Francisco Examiner, June 22, 1903; Charles H. Shinn, Mining Camps, a Study in
American Frontier Government (New York, 1885), p. 219 ff; Franklin Walker, San
Francisco^ s Literary Frontier (New York, 1939), p. 259. There is a possibility that
Roman was in New Mexico in 1846. In the Huntington Library is a summons to the
constable of Santa Fe commanding him to summon Marcus Quintane [Marcos Quin-
tana?] before the justice of the peace to testify concerning an assault and battery, made
on the person of Maubrecie Duran by A. Roman. The summons is signed by John R.
Anton Roman
15
Tulles and is dated Dec. 22, 1846. Details of the rich Scott Bar gravels appear in H. H.
Bancroft, History of California (San Francisco, 1884-90), VI, 365 ff, 494; see also
History of Siskiyou County, California (Oakland, 1881), p. 217. An account of the
arbitration effected between rival mining groups at "Scotch" Bar, may be found in
Shinn, op. cit., pp. 220-23. Roman's Bavarian origin is shown by his registration record
in Index to San Francisco Great Register of Voters, 1898, 42d assembly district, loth
precinct.
4. For Roman's migratory bookselling, see "Reminiscences of Bret Harte," loc. cit.;
and George R. Stewart, Jr., Bret Harte, Argonaut and Exile (Boston & New York,
1931), p. 130.
5. Roman's advertisement is reprinted in M. H. B. Boggs, My Playhouse Was a
Concord Coach... (Oakland, 1942), p. 155. Further details of Roman's book business
in Shasta and his finances are given in Anton Roman, "The Beginnings of the Overland
as Seen by the First Publisher," Overland Monthly, 2d ser., XXXII (July 1898), 72.
6. Idem; also in "Reminiscences of Bret Harte," loc. cit.
7. Between 1862 and 1871, Roman is listed in the San Francisco Directory at 417 and
419 Montgomery Street, and later at 11 Montgomery.
8. For the Californiana published by Roman, see, in addition to the books themselves,
Robert E. and Robert G. Cowan, A Bibliography of the History of California, i$io-
1930 (San Francisco, 1933), passim; Ruth Doxsee, "Book Publishing in San Francisco
(1848 to 1906)," Special Study (MS in Univ. Calif., School of Librarianship), 193 1,
pp. 13-16; list of books bearing the Roman imprint in Overland Monthly, July 1898,
p. 72, n. 2; Roman's advertisements in many of his publications, as well as in Publishers^
Trade List Annual, 1877 and 1878, Publishers^ Weekly, III (April 5, 1873), 359; and
VIII (July 3, 1875), s6; and S. F. Directory, 1868-69, between pp. 80 and 81.
9. John S. Hittel [sic], The Resources of California (San Francisco: A. Roman &
Co.; and New York: W. J. Widdleton, 1863), p. v. See also Robert E. Cowan, A Bibli-
ography of the History of California. . . 1^10-1906 (San Francisco, 1914), pp. 111-12.
ID. John C. Cremony, Life Among the Apaches (San Francisco and New York:
A. Roman & Co., 1868), Dedication.
11. J. M. Hutchings, Scenes of Wonder and Curiosity in California (New York and
San Francisco: A. Roman & Co., 1872), prefatory note from publisher.
12. Guido Kiistel, Nevada and California Processes of Silver and Gold Extraction
(San Francisco: Frank D. Carlton, 1863), p. 3.
13. See "List of Valuable Works on Mining . . . For Sale by A. Roman & Co.," adver-
tised in William Barstow, Sulphur ets (San Francisco and New York: A. Roman & Co.,
1867), p. 118.
14. A. W. Loomis, ed., Confucius and the Chinese Classics (San Francisco and New
York: A. Roman & Co., 1867), p. vii.
15. Roman's characteristics are mentioned in Noah Brooks, op. cit., p. 202; and in
Walker, op. cit., p. 259.
16. See advertisement of Loomis's work at the end of John Franklin Swift, Going to
Jericho (New York and San Francisco: A. Roman & Co., 1868). Loomis's work was
announced as "the first book printed from Stereotype Plates in California," in Pub-
lishers' Weekly, VIII (July 3, 1875), 5^-
17. Benoni Lanctot, Chinese and English Phrase Book (San Francisco and New
York: A. Roman & Co., 1867), Preface.
18. Loomis, op. cit., pp. vii-viii.
19. See the list in which "A. Roman & Co. invite particular attention to the following
works on China and Japan," at the end of Lanctot, op. cit.
20. T. A. Kendo, Treatise on Silk and Tea Culture and Other Asiatic Industries
1 6 California Historical Society Quarterly
Adapted to the Soil and Climate of California (San Francisco and New York: A. Roman
& Co., 1870), Preface. At the end of this work is the list of "Important Books for
Farmers, for sale by A. Roman & Co."
21. For the juveniles and schoolbooks published by Roman, see Publishers^ Weekly,
VIII (July 3, 1875), ^6\ and X (July 29, 1876), passim; advertisement of Roman's
"California Juvenile Books" at end of Hutchings, op. cit. (1871); Roman's list at end
of Gregory Yale, Legal Titles to Mining Claims (San Francisco and New York: A.
Roman & Co., 1867). For the juveniles and texts, and school apparatus sold by Roman,
see the California Mail Bag, I (Dec. 1871), 112; Roman's advertisement at the end of
Hittell, op. cit., 1874 edition; and San Francisco Business Directory and Mercantile
Guide, 1864-65, p. 31.
22. Besides the literary works themselves, see Edgar J. Hinkel, ed., Bibliography of
California Fiction, Poetry, Drama, W.P.A. Project (Oakland, 1938), I, passim; list of
Roman imprints at Huntington Library.
23. A. W. Patterson, Onward: A Lay of the West (New York and San Francisco:
A. Roman & Co., 1869), Remarks.
24. Madrona Etc. By D. T. C. (San Francisco: A. Roman & Co., 1876), Note.
25. For discussions of Charles Warren Stoddard's Poems, edited by Bret Harte and
published by Roman in 1867, see Francis O'Neill, "Stoddard, Psalmist of the South
Seas," The Catholic World, CV (July 1917), 511; Charles H. Shinn, "Early Books,
Magazines, and Book-Making," Overland Monthly, 2d ser., XII (Oct. 1888), 347;
Walker, op. cit., p. 230.
26. For the preparation and journalistic reception of Outer oppings, ed. by Bret
Harte for Roman in 1865 but dated 1866, see Bret Harte, "My First Book," California
edition of Works (Boston & New York, 1929), III, 427 ff; "Outcroppings of California
Verse," San Francisco Evening Bulletin, Jan. 6, 1866; "Reminiscences of Bret Harte,"
lac. cit.; Stewart, op. cit., pp. 129 ff; Walker, op. cit., pp. 211 ff.
27. Bret Harte to Anton Roman, San Francisco, Jan. 8, 1866, in Geoffrey Bret Harte,
ed.. The Letters of Bret Harte (Boston and New York, 1926), pp. 3-4.
28. Outcroppings: Being Selections of California Verse (San Francisco and New
York: A. Roman & Co.-W. J. Widdleton, 1866), p. 3.
29. This was the verdict of the A?nerican Flag, as reported in the Evening Bulletin.
See note 26, above.
30. Geoffrey Harte, ed., op. cit., p. 3.
31. Titus F. Cronise, The Natural Wealth of California (San Francisco: H. H. Ban-
croft & Co., 1868), pp. 683-84.
32. "Reminiscences of Bret Harte," loc. cit. For further details concerning the Over-
land Monthly and Roman's relations with Harte, see H. H. Bancroft, Essays and
Miscellany (San Francisco, 1890), p. 600; Henry J. W. Dam, "A Morning with Bret
Harte," McClure^s Magazine, IV (Dec. 1894), pp. 44-45; Charles S. Greene, "Magazine
Publishing in California," Pubis., Library Assoc. Cahf. (San Francisco, 1898), No. 2,
pp. 3 ff ; George Wharton James, "The Founding of the Overland Monthly," Overland
Monthly, LII (July 1908), 5 and 10; B. E. Lloyd, Lights and Shades in San Francisco
(San Francisco, 1876), pp. 301 ff; Henry Childs Merwin, The Life of Bret Harte
(Boston and New York, 191 1), pp. 44-45; Frank Luther Mott, A History of American
Magazines, i86$-i88$ (Cambridge, Mass., 1938), III, $6 and 402 ff; Overland Monthly
(July 1898, and Sept. 1902), passim; "Overland Reminiscences," Overland Monthly,
2d ser., I (Jan. 1883), i; T. Edgar Pemberton, The Life of Bret Harte (London, 1903),
pp. 82 and 87-88; "A. Roman," San Francisco Aha California, Aug. 4, 1879; Stewart,
op. cit., pp. 162-63; Charles Warren Stoddard, "Early Recollections of Bret Harte,"
Atlantic Monthly, LXXVIII (Nov. 1896), 675-76; Walker, op. cit., pp. 259 ff.
Anton Roman 1 7
33. Roman, "The Beginnings of the Overland," op. cit., p. 73.
34. Overland Monthly, I (July 1868), 99.
35. There is some confusion regarding the story behind "The Luck of Roaring
Camp." In "Reminiscences of Bret Harte," prepared for the Overland Monthly of
Sept. 1902, Roman indicated that he had read the proofs before he received vi^ord of
the tale's "immorality." In an interview with Roman reported in the Alta California
of Aug. 4, 1879, however, he states that he read the proofs after he had received a
letter from his partner denouncing the story as "indecent." Moreover, according to
James Howard Bridge, Milliojiaires and Grub Street (New York, 193 1), p. 214, Roman
occasionally remarked that the lady proof-reader was a "fanciful creation." There was
also some difference of opinion between Harte and Roman regarding Mrs. Roman's
part in "The Luck." See Harte's letter to Nan, Aug. 29, 1879, in Geoffrey B. Harte, ed.,
op. cit., pp. 152-53: "Do you remember the day you lay sick at San Jose and I read
you the story of 'The Luck,' and took heart and comfort from your tears over it, and
courage to go on and demand that it should be put into the magazine. And think—
think of fat Mrs. Roman claiming to be its sponsor! ! ! " This explosion was doubtless
a result of the Alta California's report (as above) of the interview with Roman, in
which Roman stated, "I told my wife that she was truly the sponsor of Bret Harte."
36. Overland Monthly, I (Oct. 1868), p. 385.
37. Roman also reprinted articles from the California Medical Gazette (San Fran-
cisco), such as those of Arthur B. Stout on "Hygiene, as regards the Sewerage of San
Francisco," in 1868 and 1869.
38. California?!, I (Jan. 1880), 90. For further details about the Calif ornian, see the
Califomian, II (July 1880), 100; and VI (Sept. 1882), 291; Greene, op. cit., p. 7; Mott,
ibid., pp. 56 and 406; Roman, "The Beginnings of the Overland," op. cit., p. 75;
"Reminiscences of Bret Harte," op. cit., p. 222.
39. "Reminiscences . . .," loc. cit.
40. Roman's books "for the million" are advertised in the California Mail Bag, I (Dec.
1871), p. 112. His Catalogue raisonne: a general and classified list of the jnost i?nportant
works in nearly every department of literature and science, published in the United
States and England, with a bibliographical introduction (San Francisco, 1861), is owned
by the California State Library. For the wide variety of his stock, see also S. F. Bus. Dir.
and Mercantile Guide, ibid., pp. 30-31. The eastern publications sold by Roman are
listed in "Books of the Month," Overland Monthly, V (July and Aug. 1870), 104 and
200; and in the California Mail Bag, II (June-July 1872), 11 and 41. His agents are
mentioned in J. Price and C. S. Haley, The Buyers'* Manual and Business Guide; being
a Description of the Leading Business Houses . . .of the Pacific Coast (San Francisco,
1872), p. 48.
41. For Roman's connections with W. J. Widdleton, see The America?! Bookseller,
n. s., I (May 15, 1882), 226; Bret Harte to James R. Osgood & Co., May 30, 1870, in
Concerning ^'Condensed Novels'' by Bret Harte, Introduction and . . . Notes by Nathan
Van Patten (Stanford University, 1929), pp. xix-xx; "Obituary. W. J. Widdleton,"
New York Tribune, May 3, 1882; "Obituary. William J. Widdleton," Publishers'
Weekly, XXI (May 6, 1882), 478; "Sketches of the Publishers. William J. Widdleton,"
The Round Table, IV (Sept. 15, 1866), 107-108.
42. 5. F. Bus. Dir. and Mercantile Guide, ibid., p. 30. For further details concerning
Roman's business methods and business associates, see Roman's advertisements on the
covers of the S. F. Directory, 1861 and 1862; his advertisements at the end of Barstow,
op. cit.; Hittell, op. cit. (1874); Price and Haley, loc. cit.; Directory, 1859-1865, hstings
for Frank D. Carlton; also for Joseph A. Hofmann, ibid., 1863-1872.
i8
California Historical Society Quarterly
43. A. Roman & Co. to the publishers of the New York Tribune, Feb. 8, 1876, manu-
script division, New York Pubhc Library.
44. American Booksellers' Guide, III (Dec. i, 1871), 446; American Literary Gazette
and Publishers'' Circular, Dec. i, 187 1, p. 23.
45. California Mail Bag, I (Dec. 1871), 112. Here Roman's new establishment and its
stock are described in detail. For further details about the new store, see Price and
Haley, loc. cit.
46. "The Affairs of A. Roman & Co.," Ajnerican Bookseller, VII (April 15, 1879), 309.
47. Calif ornian,YV (Oct. i88i),p. 358.
48. In 1894 he was an unsuccessful non-partisan candidate for recorder. San Francisco
Chronicle, June 22, 1903.
49. For Roman's death, see ibid,; "Death of Anton Roman," The Argonaut, LII
(June 29, 1903), 427; Sacramento Union, June 23, 1903; San Francisco Examiner, June
23, 1903.
50. For Roman's registration record, see note 3, above.
Acknowledgment of assistance in preparing this paper is made to Miss Mabel R. Gillis
of the California State Library, RoUo Silver of the Peabody Institute, Neal Harlow of
the University of California Library, William Ramirez of the San Francisco Public
Library, Lyle H. Wright and Haydee Noya of the Huntington Library, Jacob Zeitlin of
Los Angeles, Ernest R. May of Berkeley, Ruth Doxsee, William McDevitt of San Fran-
cisco, Dorothea E. Spear of the American Antiquarian Society, Oscar Wegelin of the
New York Historical Society, Robert W. Hill of the New York Pubhc Library, and
Dr. Archbald Malloch of the New York Academy of Medicine.
Dates of Palou's Death and Lasuen's
Birth Determined
By Maynard Geiger, O.F.M.
READERS of this article, on seeing its title, may shrug their shoulders
and exclaim: "Well, what of it!" As biographical information, how-
ff ever, the dates help to round out the careers of two of California's
eminent missionaries. Fray Francisco Palou, O.F.M., the companion and
biographer of Serra, the author of the Noticias and founder of Mission
Dolores in San Francisco; and Fray Fermin Francisco de Lasuen, O.F.M.,
co-laborer with Serra, his successor in the presidency, and the founder of
nine more missions after Serra's demise.
WHEN DID PALOU DIE?
The career of Palou is well known. The very brief summary of his activity
is given here merely as a setting for the data concerning his death. Palou was
born in Palma, Mallorca, Spain, January 22, 1723.^ Having finished his year
in the novitiate in Palma, he began his studies for the priesthood in the Con-
vento de San Francisco de Palma in 1 740. One of his classmates was Fray
Juan Crespi. Both had as teacher Fray Junipero Serra. This relationship
continued for three years.^
In 1749, Serra and Palou simultaneously decided upon a missionary career
in the Americas. Together they sailed to the new world. Between 1750 and
1758, Palou labored with Serra in the Sierra Gorda of Mexico; between 1758
and 1767 they were associated at the College of San Fernando in Mexico
City, and both left for Lower California in 1767. When Serra set out in the
spring of 1769 to found the missions of Upper California, Palou assumed the
presidency of the Lower California area, which he retained until 1773. Then
he joined Serra in Upper California and remained there until 1785, where-
upon he returned to his College.^
At the triennial chapter held in Mexico City, July i, 1786, Palou was
elected the fourteenth guardian or superior of the institution and served in
that capacity until his death on April 6, 1789, at the College of Santa Cruz
de Queretaro. These two dates, 1786 and 1789, are the ones the writer desires
to emphasize. They were found in recent years in the official book of the
College, "Libro de Decretos de el Colegio de el Sefior San Fernando de
Mexico," which covers every important decision and event of the College's
activity between the years 1733 and 1858.*
The date of Palou's election to office is found in the Latin account of the
proceedings of the chapter of 1786. The account of his death is given in two
separate documents in the above mentioned "Libro," the one in Spanish, the
19
20 California Historical Society Quarterly
other in Latin, in the year 1789.^ For some undivulged reason, Palou, the
guardian of San Fernando, had gone to the neighboring College to the north,
Queretaro, about 200 miles away. There he became ill. Death came to him
on April 6. The news arrived at San Fernando on April 1 2. He was sixty-six
years old.^ Moreover, unless it can be proved by new documents, the College
of Queretaro rather than that of San Fernando must be considered the
sepulcher of Palou. Finally, a note may be added to complete the vital statis-
tics in regard to his physical appearance. At the age of twenty-six, on the
point of leaving Spain, official government papers describe Palou as of
medium height, of swarthy complexion, with dark eyes and hair.^
WHEN WAS LASUEN BORN?
Most every reader of California mission history at some time or other has
come across a statement concerning Lasuen's longevity.^ The English ex-
plorer, George Vancouver, met Lasuen at Carmel Mission in 1792 and left
for posterity a flattering description of Lasuen's personality but a bad yet
inculpable statement in regard to that gentleman's vital statistics. He ven-
tured to write that Lasuen was "about seventy-two years of age."^ Since
Lasuen died at Carmel Mission, June 26, 1803,^° he should, according to
Vancouver's time schedule, have been about eighty-three when that event
overtook him. Moreover, Lasuen founded seven missions between August
28, 1 79 1, and June 13, 1798, which was rugged work for a man between the
years of seventy-one and seventy-eight, and which would call for extraordi-
nary good health, vigor and vitality. Now, what are the facts?
Lasuen's age at the time of his death was not recorded in the "Libro de
Difuntos" of Carmel by the padre in charge. Hence we must look elsewhere
for a clue. Three documents in widely separated areas disclose Lasuen's true
age.
It was Dr. Don Jose Martinez de Marigorta y Ortiz de Zarate who in this
century determined the date of Lasuen's birth from the baptismal records of
the parish of San Vincente in Victoria, in the region of Cantabria, Spain.
These records disclose that Fermin Lasuen, the son of Lorenzo Lasuen and
Maria Francisca de Arasqueta, was born in Victoria, June 7, 1736, and was
baptized on June 8.^^
When Lasuen was at Cadiz, Spain, ready to embark for the Americas, the
official government statistics give his age as twenty-three. Since that was in
1759, it again brings the date of Lasuen's birth back to 1736.^^
Sometime after September 9, 1772, Fray Rafael Verger, O.F.M., guardian
of San Fernando College, Mexico, drew up, at the request of the viceroy,
a complete list of the Franciscan friars belonging to the College, including
the missionaries who had gone abroad. In this list we find the name of "Fray
Fermin Lasuen, 37 years old, who received the Franciscan habit in 1750 in
the Province of Cantabria."^^ Here is a discrepancy of a year or less, since
Palou^s Death and Lasueri's Birth
21
that would push Lasuen's birth back to 1735. However, differences of from
six to nine months in friars' ages frequently occur in these official lists. We
have the birth certificate and that is really sufficient. In general, the Mexican
document agrees. It is a far cry from the reputed year of Lasuen's birth, 1 720,
which historians were forced to assign because of Vancouver's assertion that
in 1792 Lasuen was "about seventy-two."
In order to exculpate Vancouver from undue exercise of judgment in the
estimate of Lasuen's age, we must look about for a possible reason. The an-
swer may be found in a letter by Lasuen himself. On October 3, 1782, he
wrote to Father Velez in Mexico from San Diego: "I am already old and
entirely gray. And although my years are responsible, yet the burden of my
assignment has considerably contributed to this, particularly the five years
I am about to complete as minister of Mission San Diego. This land is for
apostles only; and its people need more apostolic men than myself."^*
When Lasuen wrote those words in 1782 about his prematurely old and
gray appearance, he was but forty-six years old. Consequently, ten years
later, when Vancouver met him in Carmel (1792), Lasuen must have aged
considerably for Vancouver to describe him as "about seventy-two," when
as a matter of fact he was but fifty-six. So when Lasuen died in 1803, he was
sixty-seven years old, over a decade and a half less than the probable eighty-
three generally assigned as the term of his life span. He built his nine Cali-
fornia missions between 1786 (Santa Barbara) and 1798 (San Luis Rey), a
program which called for strenuous traveling and detailed superintendence.
This Lasuen did between the ages of fifty and sixty-two.
When Lasuen came to the College of San Fernando, he was sent to the
Sierra Gorda missions, where Serra and Palou had labored before him, and
he remained there between 1762 and 1767. Lasuen spent the years 1768 to
1773 in Lower California. When he came to Upper California in the latter
year he was thirty-seven; when he assumed the presidency of the Upper
California missions he was forty-nine. At the time of his death he was sixty-
seven.
In physical appearance, at the age of twenty-three, when leaving Spain,
he was of average height, white (not swarthy) , with a somewhat florid com-
plexion, pock-marked, had a heavy beard, dark eyes, his hair dark and
curly.^^
NOTES
1. Zephyrin Englehardt, San Francisco; or, Mission Dolores (Chicago, 1924), p. 373;
also, Maynard Geiger, "Important California Missionary Dates Determined," The
Americas, IV (Jan. 1948), 287.
2. Maynard Geiger, "The Scholastic Career and Preaching Apostolate of Fray
Junipero Serra . . .," ibid., IV (July 1947), 71-72.
2 2 California Historical Society Quarterly
3. Francisco Palou, Relacion historica de la Vida . . . Junipero Serra (Mexico City,
1787); and Palou, Noticias de la Nueva California (San Francisco, 1874), passim, dis-
close the various dates in the career of Palou himself up to 1787.
4. This important book on administration is to be found in the Archivo General
de la Nacion, Mexico City. A transcript is now in the Santa Barbara Mission Archives.
5. The Spanish and Latin texts are given in Geiger (see note i, above), pp. 288 and
290, respectively.
6. "Libro de Decretos . . .," note 4, above.
7. Document 5546, segunda seccion, Contratacion, Archivo de Indias, Sevilla, Spain.
8. C. E. Chapman, A History of California, the Spanish Period (New York, 1923),
p. 365.
9. Capt. George Vancouver, A Voyage of Discovery . . . (London, 1798), II, 34. His
description of Lasuen is quoted in Chapman, op. cit., p. 379.
10. "Libro de Difuntos" of Carmel Mission, now in the Bishop's Archives, Fresno,
California.
11. First published by Fray Buenaventura Salazar, O.F.M., in Spain, shortly before
1935 and republished by him in Misioneros Francis canos en America, at Bilbao, Spain,
in 1935, p. 103, note 2. A copy of this latter work is in the library of Mission Santa
Barbara. See Geiger, note i above, p. 292, for the Spanish text of the birth and baptismal
certificate.
12. Document 5546, segunda seccion, Contratacion.
13. Document of the Biblioteca del Museo Nacional, Mexico City. A photograph of
the same is in the Santa Barbara Mission Archives.
14. Original in the Biblioteca del Museo Nacional. Photograph in Santa Barbara
Mission Archives.
15. Document 5546, segunda seccion, Contratacion.
California: A Possible Derivation of the Name
By A. E. SoKOL
THE question, "How did California come by its name?" seems to
have been settled; but what the name itself means, or where it came
from originally, remains unsolved. The following is offered as a
conjecture which, upon further research, may prove to contain a clue; on
the other hand, it may be a coincidence and have no actual bearing on the
subject.
The generally accepted theory regarding the application of the name
"California" is the one offered in 1862 by the Rev. Dr. Edward Everett
Hale. According to this theory the word occurred first in a Spanish novel,
Las Sergas de Esplandidn, written by Garcia Ordonez de Montalvo as the
fifth part of the then-popular Portuguese romance, Vasco de Lobeira's
Amadis de Gaula, which Montalvo had translated into Spanish. The story
deals with an imaginary island called California, rich in pearls and gold,
and peopled with black Amazons whose queen was Calafia. Since the
Amadis story was very popular at the beginning of the sixteenth century,
it seems reasonable to suppose that it was known to the explorers of that
time and that it became the basis of name-giving for one of the new dis-
coveries, referring at first to Lower California, but gradually embracing the
entire region now known as California.^
This explanation has not been challenged nor modified by additional
findings in recent years, except that a brief and as yet unexplained reference
to a country by the name of Calif erne was found in the Chanson de Roland,
a French romance written possibly as early as 1066.^ The origin of the name
in a native Indian word, or in any combination of Latin or Greek roots,
has not proved acceptable. Montalvo 's Esplandidn is thus generally taken
as the source. That "California," variously spelled, was current during the
Middle Ages and must have occurred in many early manuscripts, seems to
have escaped attention.
The writer first came across a word suggesting the name of California
in the German law book, Der Sachsenspiegel, probably written by Eike
von Repgow about 1230.^ In modern German the passage reads:
Es kann kein Weib Fiirsprech sein, noch ohne Vormund klagen. Das verwirkte fiir
alle Frauen Calefurnia, die vor dem Reiche [Konig] sich iibel auffiihrte vor Zom, da
ihr Wille ohne Fiirsprech nicht durchgehen durfte.*
Translated into English the sentence runs somewhat like this:
No woman may be an advocate nor plead [a cause before court] without a guardian.
This privilege was lost for all women by Calefurnia, who misbehaved before court,
being angry because she could not get her will without an advocate.
The Sachsenspiegel is a compilation of law as practiced and recognized
23
24 California Historical Society Quarterly
in the then-Saxon part of Germany. Because of the clarity of its language
and its precision of expression, it quickly became popular in Germany. Not
only was it copied in numerous manuscripts and became the forefather of
other German law books, such as the Deutschenspiegel (Spiegel Deutscher
Leute) and the Schivabenspiegel, but it also was translated into Latin,
French, and several Slavic languages. Altogether several hundred manu-
scripts exist of these various related medieval works, whose influence is
said to have extended even to Sicily under the rule of Emperor Frederick II,
who was also king of that island, and possibly as far as Spain.*
At one time some doubt existed among scholars as to the priority of these
three principal German law books, but it seems established now that the
Sachsenspiegel is the earliest, while the Schivabenspiegel dates from about
fifty years later, with the Deutschenspiegel acting as the connecting link.^
The two later works are certainly based on the Saxon law book, yet they
show departures from their main source, not only those made necessary
by the difference in the law of the three German regions but suggesting
consultation of sources not used by the author of the earlier Sachsenspiegel.
The only manuscript of the Deutschenspiegel that exists today omits the
name Calefurnia from the passage altogether, thus depriving it of all rel-
evance.^ Possibly the writer of that manuscript, not familiar with the story
of Calefurnia and not knowing what the Sachsenspiegel referred to, just
left it out; medieval copyists are known to have resorted to such drastic
means in case of doubt. Other copies of the book might have been more
complete in this respect, but, since no other is preserved for us, we cannot
check the point.
The numerous manuscripts of the Schivabenspiegel, on the other hand,
not only contain, with variations in spelling,^ the "Calefurnia" passage in
full, but they even embroider on it by adding that the lady in question was
a Roman noblewoman, and that her objectionable behavior consisted in
showing her naked posterior to the king. Thereupon the latter, after con-
sulting with his wise attendants, established the rule that no woman should
ever be permitted to be an advocate nor plead her case before court without
her guardian.^
The explanation for this expanded version of the Calefurnia episode in
the Schivabenspiegel may be that the author, wishing to be more explicit
than his Saxon predecessor, consulted a source of the anecdote not known
to Eike von Repgow. That fits in with the general assumption that Eike
knew practically no Roman law (the Calefurnia passage being usually
quoted as the only example of Roman influence in his work), while the
composer of the later book, writing at a time when that law had begun to
penetrate into Germany, already had access to works containing the Cale-
furnia story in its Latin original. As will be seen, this assumption would
also account for the names used in the later book. One difficulty remains,
California: Possible Derivation of Name 2 5
however: since the known Latin sources do not contain all the details
mentioned by the writer of the Schivabenspiegel, he must either have
invented them himself to make the episode more vivid and more to the
taste of his contemporaries, or he found it already given in the expanded
form in some intermediary source which has been lost to us.
The sources of Roman law became available in Germany only in the
later Middle Ages, through Latin excerpts or translations and adaptations
made by foreign scholars, especially Italian and French. A Latin manuscript
of that sort is preserved in the monastery of Gottweig in Lower Austria.^^
It mentions a "Calphurnia indisciplinatissima," but does not seem to elabo-
rate further. According to the editor of the manuscript, it was written
about 1 1 70 by a Frenchman, probably in Paris, and was designed as a short
course in Roman law for the use of the clergy. It is said to be one of the
oldest comprehensive presentations of the theory of Roman law known in
medieval literature. From this it appears fairly certain that the story of
Calefurnia, used as an argument to rationalize the forbidding of women
to plead before court, was a widely known lawyers' anecdote, popular in
various parts of Europe at least since the end of the twelfth century.^^
What were the Roman sources of this anecdote, how did it originate,
and how did it pass into medieval tradition?
There is no doubt that one of the earliest and most important sources
was the work of the Roman writer Valerius Maximus, who lived during
the first century of the Christian era and wrote his work. Memorable Facts
and Sayings, during the reign of Emperor Tiberius.^^ It was intended as
a kind of source book of historical anecdotes for use in the schools of
rhetoric. Although of no great literary value, it became very popular in
the following centuries through extracts and translations. One of the best
known of these is Petrus Cantor's Verbum Abbreviatum, written about
1 1 87 in Paris— too late to have been the source of the Gottweig manuscript.
In free translation, the original Latin of Valerius Maximus' rendering of
the anecdote reads thus:
Caja (or Gaja) Afrania, wife of senator Licinius Bucio, having a passion for law
suits, always pleaded her own causes before the praetor, not because she lacked de-
fenders, but because she was full of impudence. Because she tired the tribunals by
shouting or rather by barking, she became the best known example of pettifogging of
her sex. Her name became abominable; to characterize moral depravity among women,
one says: this is a C. Afrania. She lived to the year in which Caesar became Consul
for the second time together with P. Servilius. In talking of such a monster, history
should mark the time of her disappearance rather than that of her birth.
It will be noted that in this story the name of the disreputable lady is
C. Afrania, not Calefurnia, and that her misbehavior differs considerably
from that mentioned by the medieval writers. This rather disqualifies Va-
lerius Maximus as the direct source of the medieval versions, but the story
is more logical than in the latter, because it assumes the right of women to
2 6 California Historical Society Quarterly
plead before court until that right was abrogated by C. Afrania's impudent
conduct.
There is, however, the possibility that the record of C. Afrania became
known among the lawyers of the Middle Ages through the Roman law
books themselves. Valerius Maximus' anecdote reappears in the writings
of Domitius Ulpianus, a famous Roman jurist of the second century A. D.,
who supplied about one-third of the contents of Justinian's Digest}^
Through Justinian's famous code, which was translated into French about
1 1 35, the alleged reason for excluding women from the right to plead may
have become known among the early students of Roman law in the dif-
ferent European countries, even without direct reference to its earlier
literary occurrence in Valerius Maximus.
Ulpian gives the name of the offending woman as Carfania, which is
evidently a contraction and transposition of Valerius' "C. Afrania" and
can very well be the direct antecedent of the various forms of the name
in the Schwabenspiegel manuscripts. But it still does not explain the "Cale-
furnia" of the Sachsenspiegel, nor does his short statement contain any of
the vivid details with which the medieval authors adorn their versions. We
are thus forced back to our previous assumption that these are either the
product of the German lawyers' robust imagination, or that they were
found already made to order in an intermediary source of which we have,
at present, no record.
This latter assumption might also account for the change in names. In
the absence of definite proof we can only speculate, but it seems not
unlikely that somewhere along the line the name of the objectionable lady
became confused with that of another famous Roman woman, Calpurnia.
The Calpurnii were a celebrated Roman family, several members of which,
both male and female, achieved renown in ancient history. Among the
women, at least two or three became prominent: one, the fourth wife of
Caesar, whose premonition of her husband's death is related in Valerius'
book; and another, the wife of Plinius the Younger, who gave a charming
portrait of her in his letters. Since it seems improbable that these letters
were known, even by hearsay, to the German lawyer-authors of the Middle
Ages, we may conclude that the Calpurnia known to them, at least by
name, was the wife of Caesar. How, where, and when Carfania and Cal-
purnia became mixed with each other, cannot be stated at this time; but
the two names together would certainly account for all the hybrid forms
found in the German law books. Once we can accept Calpurnia as a basis,
it is easy to show how it would change, first to Calphurnia, then to Cal-
furnia, Calefurnia, and conceivably to California.^*
Considering these facts and assumptions, we may now conclude that the
Sachsenspiegel drew on an as yet unknown intermediary source which
contained the story of C. Afrania but used the name Calpurnia, or a deriva-
California: Possible Derivation of Name
27
tive, probably without giving further details about the nature of the lady's
behavior in court. The author of the Schwabenspiegel, either finding the
anecdote in the work of his predecessor, or baffled by the mutilated version
of the Deutschenspiegel, could draw on his knowledge of Justinian to insert
the name Carfania or had access to another intermediary source which was
based on the Roman authority. For some reason, however, it was the Cal-
purnia derivative which survived in connection with the story of C. Af rania,
while that name itself seems to have disappeared during the following
centuries.
In addition to the possibility that the name of California may have entered
Spain directly from Roman literature, or by way of the German law books,
there exists still another. To trace this we must return to German literature,
namely to the Narrenschiff (Ship of Fools) of Sebastian Brant, which
appeared in 1494 and at once became a literary sensation. The first German
book to attract wide attention in Europe, it was within a few years trans-
lated twice into Latin, three times into French, twice into English, and
twice into Dutch. Its phenomenal success lay in the fact that it expressed
the temper of the time better than any other contemporary publication;
also, no small share of its appeal was due to the numerous woodcuts accom-
panying the text, which made the book the most elegant print of the
fifteenth century.
Actually the Ship of Fools is not much more than the translation and
compilation of passages from biblical and classical literature, reproaching
various kinds of people or fools for their particular weaknesses or vices.
The many chapters, each dealing with some special folly, are loosely held
together by the fiction of a ship in which all these fools are embarked.
Incidentally, the Ship of Fools contains the first literary reference to the
discovery of a new world by Columbus.^^
Sebastian Brant, the author, was a lawyer of Strassburg, who had become
a university professor and publication expert in Basel. In addition to his
knowledge of Roman law, he had first-hand acquaintance with medieval
German literature, as evidenced by his edition of Freidank's Bescheidenheit,
a work of the early thirteenth century. He thus had ready access to the
Caja Afrania-Calefurnia material, and he actually used it in his Narrenschiff.
The passage in question is contained in the chapter on "Wicked Women,"
line 41 ff, and is quite short: "Wann frowen sollten reden vil / Calphurnia
kem bald jns spil. . . ."^^
This sentence shows that Calphurnia— rather than Afrania or any of its
derivatives— was the name for a talkative woman that survived through the
Middle Ages. It might also indicate that Sebastian Brant, the lawyer, knew
of her through his reading of the Sachsenspiegel rather than directly from
the Latin sources, either Valerius Maximus or Justinian.
Brant's Narrenschiff was first translated into Latin, under the title Stulti-
2 8 California Historical Society Quarterly
fera Navis, by Jacob Locher (sometimes referred to as Philomusus Suevus)
in 1497, with the help of Brant himself. This Latin version, which became
the basis for translation into other European languages, constitutes a free
adaptation of the original, rather than a literal rendering. Some parts were
actually expanded and show the result of additional research, done either
by the translator or by Brant.^^ Locher's Latin text of our passage reads as
follows: "Calphurnia nudum monstraret clunem et posteriora viris," which
might indicate an acquaintance with the expanded form of the story as
found in the Schwabenspiegel. Yet on the margin of the Locher version
we find cited: Lff de postul, which refers to Justinian, who, however, does
not include the naked posterior. The actual source of Locher's statement
is thus not quite clear.
When we turn to the early English translation of Brant's work, which
appeared in 1509, the passage has assumed the following form:
Wordes among wymen is comon and ryfe
Wand fere of shame, from many gone is quyte
So one Calphurnia in a case playntyfe
Hir bare tayle shewed to the iuge in despyte^^
This finishes our tally of "California's" antecedents in European literary
tradition. From now on we are confined to speculation.
It is possible that the name or a related form of it was known among
medieval lawyers in Spain as well as in Germany. We know that Justinian
Roman law was received in Spain during the thirteenth and fourteenth
centuries, and that the great Spanish legislator of the Middle Ages, Alfonso
X, the Wise, issued his most renowned legal work, the Siete Fartidas, in
the year 1265, and that it was framed in imitation of Justinian's Pandects.
It is, therefore, also possible that the California anecdote became known
in Spain at an early date.^^
Possibly the German Sachsenspiegel itself or a similar book introduced
the form into Spain, though we must consider this as less likely.
But it is quite conceivable that the Latin or French versions of the Ship
of Fools— there was no translation of the book into Spanish— carried the
name into Spain and brought it to the attention of Montalvo. The fame of
the book, the time element, and the striking similarity of the names are in
favor of this theory. Taken from one of the sources mentioned above but
only vaguely remembered in its implications, the harmonious exotic name
may have given the Spanish author the idea of making use of it in connec-
tion with his imaginary island.
It may be of significance that the greatest Spanish jurist of the late
fifteenth century was Alfonso Diaz de Montalvo^*^; but this might, of
course, be a meaningless coincidence.
Further researches along the lines enumerated below can alone answei
these questions:
California: Possible Derivation of Name
29
1 ) Establish, if possible, the links connecting the Valerius Maximus story
of Caja Afrania with the medieval versions.
2) Establish similar links between Justinian and the law books of the
Middle Ages.
3 ) Find the immediate source of the Sachsenspiegel version, the Schwa-
benspiegel variant, and the Gottweig manuscript.
4) Show if and how the confusion between C. Afrania and Calpurnia
arose.
5) Trace the Latin or the medieval version of the anecdote into Spanish
legal literature.
6) Prove the connection, if one exists, between any of the known occur-
rences of the name and its use in Montalvo's Las Sergas de Esplandidn.
It is certainly a worthwhile task for scholars in the respective fields,
which might not only resolve the mystery still enveloping the name of this
state, but would probably also bring to light many interesting and as yet
unsuspected interrelations among European literatures of the earlier period.
NOTES
I. For discussion of the subject, see Henry R. Wagner, "The Discovery of Cali-
fornia," this Quarterly, I (July 1922), 52-56; and Charles E. Chapman, A History of
California, The Spanish Period (New York, 1921), pp. 55-69, including a list of refer-
ences; also H. H. Bancroft, History of California (San Francisco, 1884-90), I, 64-68.
8. Chanson de Roland, lines 2921-24.
3. The standard work on this medieval book is the one by C. G. Homeyer, Des
Sachsenspiegels Erster Theil oder das Sachsische Landrecht vom Jahre 1^69 (Berlin,
1 861); the above passage is, however, quoted from the edition of Julius Weiske, Der
Sachsenspiegel (Landrecht) nach der altesten Leipziger Handschrift (Leipzig, 1895),
II, 63, # I, which is based on an older manuscript than that of Homeyer's work.
4. The medieval text is as follows: "Ez en muz nichein wib vorspreche sin noch ane
vormunden clagen: daz verlos in alien Calefurnia, die vor deme riche missebarte vor
zorne, do ir wille ane vorspreche nicht muste volgen."
5. Cf. Heinrich Zoepfl, Deutsche Rechtsgeschichte (Braunschweig, 1871), I, 167 ff.
6. Anton Pfalz und Hans Voltelini, "Forschungen zu den deutschen Rechtsbiichem,"
in Sitzungsberichte, Akad. Wissensch. Wien, Phil.-hist. Klasse:
I. "Die Uberlieferung des Deutschenspiegels," vol. 191 (Vienna, 1919);
II. "Der Verfasser der sachsischen Weltchronik," and
III. "Der Sachsenspiegel und die Zeitgeschichte," vol. 201 (Vienna, 1924).
7. "Ez enmag dhein weip vorspreche sein. noch ane vormunt chlagen das verloz in
alien alle sogtanen sache dev vor dem reiche missepart vor zorne. do ir wille an vor-
sprechen niht mochte fur gan." Julius Ficker, Der Spiegel deutscher Leute (Innsbruck,
1859), p. 119.
8. As, for example, Kalphumia, Kalpfrunia, Kalfurnia, and even Consimia, Carsinia,
etc. Cf. Pfalz u. Voltelini, op. cit., I, 31; H. G. Gengler, ed., Des Schivabenspiegels
Landrechtsbuch (Erlangen, 1875), p. 164; C. G. Homeyer, "Das Landrecht des Gor-
litzer Rechtsbuches," in Des Sachsenspiegels Xiveiter Theil nebst verivandten Rechts-
biichem (Berlin, 1844), II, 219, where the name appears in the form "Calafarnia."
9. F. L. A. Freiherr von Lassberg, Der Schuoabenspiegel oder Schwabisches Land—
30 California Historical Society Quarterly
und Lehen—Rechtbuch nach einer Handschrift vom Jahre i28-j (Tubingen, 1840),
p. no.
10. Friedrich Schulte, "Uber die Summa legum des Codex Gottwicensis nr. 38.
Aus dem XII. Jahrliundert," in Sitzungsbericht der philosoph.-hist. Klasse der Kaiserl.
Akad. Wissensch. (Vienna, 1868), LVII, 433.
11. Cf. Gustav Roethe, "Die Reimvorreden des Sachsenspiegels," in Abhandlungen
der Konigl. Gesellsch. Wissensch. zu Gottingen, philolog.-hist. Classe, N.F. (Berlin,
1899), II, #8.
12. C. Kempf, Valerii Maxifni Factorwn et dictorum meTnorabilium (Leipzig, 1888),
VIII, 3, 2, p. 378. Cf. Barrett Wendell, Traditions of European Literature jrom Homer
to Dante (New York, 1920), p. 292.
13. Ulpian, III, I, DigestoruTn i, 5, where the inability of women to plead at court
is ascribed to "Carfania improbissima femina, quae inverecunde postulans causam dedit
edicto." (Carfania, an improper woman, demanded her right in an irreverent way and
thus caused the edict.) Actually, however, this restriction on women, occurring in
both Roman and German law, was probably caused by the fact that women could not
bear arms.
14. Dr. Nathan van Patten, professor of bibliography at Stanford University and
custodian of a collection of rare musical material donated by an anonymous music
lover, calls my attention to a volume entitled. The Favorite Songs of the Opera CaWd
Calphurnia. On some of the pages the name is spelled "Calfurnia," while most of the
musical dictionaries give it as Calpurnia. We thus have here a living example of the
metamorphosis of the Latin "Calpurnia" to the later "Calfurnia." This opera, with a
libretto written by Grazio Braccioli of Venice, which was later much changed by
Nicolas F. Haym, was first set to music by the German composer J. D. Heinichen,
in 17 1 3, and again by Giovanni Battista Bononcini, in 1724. In this setting it was first
performed in London and enjoyed considerable success. Cf. Charles Bumey, A General
History of Music froTn the Earliest Ages to the Present Period [1789] (New York,
1935). Incidentally, the name of the opera refers to still another Calpurnia, who was
the daughter of the Roman consul and general, G. Marius, and was to marry Trebonius,
another prominent Roman of that time.
15. Cf. Edwin H. Zeydel, "Sebastian Brant and the Discovery of America," in the
Journal of English and Germanic Philology, XLII (July 1943), 410 ff. Also see Wagner,
op. cit., p. 54.
16. Sebastian Brants Narrenschiff, ed. by Friedrich Zamcke (Leipzig, 1854). The
English translation as given in The Ship of Fools by Sebastian Brant, translated into
rhyming couplets with introduction and commentary by Edwin H. Zeydel (Columbia
University, 1944), p. 214, runs as follows:
"If women's talk is our contention / Calphurnia should come to mention."
17. It is interesting to note that one of the Latin teachers of Locher was the Paduan
professor of classics, John Calphurnius. Cf. F. A. Pompen, The English Versions of
the Ship of Fools— A Contribution to the History of the Early French Renaissance in
England (London, 1925), p. 275.
18. The Ship of Fools, translated by Alexander Barclay (Edinburgh-London edition
of 1874), II, 5.
19. Ch. Ph. Sherman, RoTnan Law in the Modern World (Boston, 1917), p. 276.
20. Cf. Sherman, op. cit., p. 279. At any rate, the two Montalvos were contemporaries
and held important state offices, which strongly indicates acquaintance, if not blood
relationship.
Paradox Town
San Francisco in i8^i^
By Julia Cooley Altrocchi
IT IS obvious that a frontier town must pass through the stages of
pioneering roughness towards a semblance of order, pattern, urbanity.^
In every such community there comes a period when the chaos and
order-in-the-making are in such vigorous encounter that the situation is
charged with paradoxes. Although the general phenomenon is likely to
be much the same in every frontier community, the paradoxical manifesta-
tions differ in quality, quantity, proportion, and rhythm-of-change.
In this community portrait-sketch, it is my purpose to take the transi-
tional year 1851 and to present, chiefly from primary sources, certain con-
trasting phenomena of that year which may serve to re-animate the dramatic
personality of San Francisco in its early guise of a paradox town. The year
185 1 has been selected because, in 1849, the elements of disorder were more
dominant than the elements of order; and in 1850, although elements of
urbanity and "culture" were developing, the contrasts were not so numer-
ous, the paradoxes not so arresting as in San Francisco's first full year as a
city in a member-state of the Union. Eighteen hundred and fifty-one was,
in short, the year when so many border violences still disrupted the grow-
ing patterns of refinement that a highly-organized vigilance committee was
considered necessary.^
POLYGLOT-AND THE SEXES
By 1 85 1, the ingenious American invaders had succeeded in making
debtors and mortgagees of many of the original Spanish-speaking ranch
owners, taking over the great golden valleys, piece by piece, and driving
their proprietors into small holdings; Hispanic influences were, therefore,
no longer predominant on the San Francisco scene.* As to the little city's
human ingredients, after the subsidence of the first gold rush, the Alta
California of January 23, 1851, under the heading. Our City's Taste,
commented: "Four years ago San Francisco was a ranch of some thirty
adobe huts, all told; it is now a city of about 30,000 inhabitants." The main
components were Anglo Saxon, with a large admixture of French, Italians,
Germans, Chinese, Mexicans (Sonorans), and Chileans.^
Perhaps as important in influence as racial numbers was the gender of the
population. H. H. Bancroft shrewdly remarked, "Woman played her part
in early California annals, her influence being abnormal as much by reason
of its absence as its presence."^ In 1851 she was very definitely beginning
to play a part, for in that year more and more of the reputable ladies were
31
3 2 California Historical Society Quarterly
entering the harbor along with shiploads of the fair disreputables— domestic
pigeons winging their way in with the "soiled doves," as the lingo of the
day expressed it/
Under the heading, Ladies in San Francisco, the Alta of February 4,
1 85 1, remarked:
We are pleased to see that each succeeding steamer is bringing to California the wives
and families of many of our merchants and mechanics who have preceded them and
built for them a home amongst us. It looks civilized and christianhke to see ladies daily
passing along our streets, amusing themselves in that nevertiring occupation of shop-
ping. The happy influence of woman in a new country is a great one, and we hope soon
to see society established in San Francisco with all the pleasant relations that are enjoyed
in our Atlantic States.
On June 27, the re-enraptured editor writes, under the heading. Influx
OF Females:
During the last few months there has been a most marked increase of the gentler sex
into our city. . . . Both during the day and evening the rustling of silks and soft musical
voices are quite familiar sounds, and with the silent accompaniment of fresh blooming
and pleasant faces, exercise a most pleasurable influence over the minds of the male
portion of our citizens, whose repeated wordly misfortunes have had a tendency not
only to make them sad and dispirited but misanthropic. The presence of woman has
a proverbially humanizing influence in society.
HEARTHSTONES
But before the "females" of San Francisco turned their efforts outward
towards improving and polishing the metropolis, they effected the building
of their own walls and the organization of their own domestic lives.® On
January 14, 1851, the Alta recorded that, "The numbering of houses in
Wasliington street was commenced yesterday morning." On February 7,
in the column. City Intelligence, on the editorial page, the same journal
rhapsodized on the condition of Happy Valley:
What a change has taken place there now. Where stood tents, large and elegant
structures have been raised. . . . Hills of sand have disappeared and through them have
been cut broad and level streets
Once again on March 20 the editor expanded on the subject:
San Francisco can boast of some beautiful little specimens of cottage residences as
there are in the world Beside these [in Happy Valley] there are some on the hill-
sides toward the Presidio, neatly ornamented. These handsome little residences are
a great relief to the eye in this city of jumbled-together buildings.
There was still drifting sand in the dry season, blowing in from the yet-
unmatted and unplanted sand dunes, and the "wetting-down carts" were
familiar sights on the few streets.^ In winter there was still the mud to
which innumerable references were made in the literature of the day.^^
Mission Street, San Francisco's first "boulevard," had been the first long
driveway to be planked. In 1850, as recorded in the San Francisco Directory
for 1852-53, "the principal streets were graded and laid with planks.
Commercial Street from Montgomery to Kearny was first completed."^^
Paradox Town
33
Accordingly, in 1851, we can picture the streets as rough and uneven, a
few of them planked, the rest muddy or dusty as the season might condition
them. Along these walked or rode the citizens, including the candy man,^^
the daguerreotype man in his wagon,^^ the dust-cart drivers, the organ
grinders,^* the "live Yankee peddling his cart-load of books."^^
Many families still lived in select boarding-houses and hotels, where they
remained for years, making friendships, marital partnerships and business
associations.^^ The Alta of December 5, 1851, mentioned the sociables and
bachelors' balls currently taking place at the Oriental, at the Rassette House,
and the Tehama House; or a visitor might find charades in progress or
guessing games, blindman's buff, chess, checkers, cards, singing, and now
and then impromptu acting.^^ A contemporary author refers to the grand-
father and mother of a recently deceased talented daughter of San Fran-
cisco as living at one of these hostelries: ^^ "Mr. Franklin, handsome and to
the manner born and of the Bank of California, lived there [at Pettit's
Boarding House^^] with his attractive fifteen-year-old daughter, Gertrude,
who became the mother of Gertrude Atherton."
BENISONS
One week after the fire of June 22, 1851, the Alta of Sunday, June 29,
reported: "Religious Services: During the fire of Sunday last but one of
our city churches was destroyed and it is probable that it will be rebuilt
in a very short time." Then followed a list of some dozen churches in which
religious services would be held on that day.^° Four days later (July 3,
185 1 ), the Alta announced the first of San Francisco's long pageants of
fairs: "The Ladies of Trinity Church will hold a Fair in the California
Exchange^^ for the purpose of raising a fund towards the completion of
their church." On July 6 the theme was again taken up:
The Ladies' Fair. Throughout the Fourth a lively interest was kept up by the attrac-
tions presented at the Ladies Fair. Not alone the fair ladies who were there could claim
admiration, but the quantity, the variety and quality of goods offered to visitors elicited
much remark. We believe the purchases were quite spirited. Last evening the articles
remaining were sold at auction and the Fair closed.
In his History of California, Bancroft remarked: "Although benevolent
associations had been started in 1 849 by the male community, they received
their encouragement mainly with the growth of families"; with the result
that in 1851 one Catholic orphan asylum (Mt. St. Joseph's School) and one
Protestant (the San Francisco Protestant Orphanage) were established. ^^
This same year, as the Alta of April 3 notes, French Sisters of Charity
appeared on the streets of San Francisco.
THE THREE R'S
Schools, under the Anglo-Saxon impetus, had begun as early as April
1847 in San Francisco.^^ In 1851 an addition was made to this field, through
34 California Historical Society Quarterly
an advertisement inserted in the Aha of June 19, by Mrs. E. M. Parker, the
former Mrs. Elizabeth Maria Bonney Wills, who had arrived in San Fran-
cisco in 1849 as correspondent for the New Orleans Delta. She had taken
the community by storm with her beauty and gifts ("a sumptuous-looking
dame she was"), and had been commissioned by the city council to write
an ode for the first Admission Day celebration, where her appearance in
the procession and at the reception afterwards was said to have been regal.^*
Her advertisement read as follows:
Female Institute: Mrs. E. M. Parker would respectfully inform her friends and the
public that she will open a Female Institute on Monday June i6th, at the comer of
Green and Dupont Streets. By long experience and eminent success in teaching, Mrs.
Parker feels assured in believing that she will be able to give entire satisfaction to those
who may commit their daughters to her charge. The morals and manners of her pupils
will be carefully attended to and the discipline, though mild, will be firm and steady.
English, French, Spanish, Music and Drawing will be taught on moderate terms, always
in advance References: Rev. F. Mines, Rev. A. Williams, Judge McHenry, Hon.
R. N. Morrison, Col. J. D. Stevenson, Capt. J. L. Folsom, Capt. J. Simpton, Dr. A. J.
Bowie, Dr. J. Hastings, Dr. M. A. Richter, J. J. Chauviteau, Esq., A. P. Brinsmade,
J. M. Crane, J. E. Durivage E^q., F. C. Ewer Esq. ...
Mrs. Parker's charms had so prevailed that, in addition to this announce-
ment, the Alta ran an editorial on the same day, concluding with the
"golden opinion":
Mrs. Parker is a lady fully qualified to instruct, being an accomplished scholar and
used to forming the youthful mind. Her tastes are all purely literary, and we feel assured
from a full knowledge of her talent and estimable qualities, that a fitter instructress and
guardian of youth could not be found in our State.
Mr. and Mrs. John C. Pelton, who had brought their school equipment
around the Horn from Boston in 1 849 and had established their free school
in December of that year,^^ were proceeding with great success in 1851.
The Alta of February 7 editorialized on Education in San Francisco and
on the Pelton school in particular. It was being conducted in the Baptist
chapel on Washington Street and teaching about 160 pupils (boys and girls
between the ages of three and fifteen). "The scholars are engaged in every
variety of study from the alphabet to algebra and the smiling, happy faces
they wear show that they are pleased with their occupations." The writer
then discussed the precarious financial condition of the school and strongly
urged its support.
Numerous language teachers were also advertising their wares. Mr. Rod-
riguez Palmer announced in the Alta of June 29 his readiness to teach
Spanish, Italian, French, and English. The San Francisco Directory listed
him in the following year (1852-53) as a teacher of languages residing at
226 Washington Street. A very persistent teacher of French, whose adver-
tisements reappeared in the Alta for several months, inserted her first
notice on January 21, 1851:
Paradox Town 35
Instruction in French. A lady recently arrived from Paris is desirous to give lessons
in the French language to ladies or gentlemen, singly or in classes— at home or in their
houses. Terms moderate. Address A. B. at the office of this paper.
THE HIGHER LITERACIES
In 1 85 1 came the initial agitation for a public library and a museum,
several members of the Vigilance Committee of that year sponsoring the
idea. On October 4, the Alta commented:
There has long been a vacuum in this city which a good library and reading room
would soon fill. There has been no place whatever to attend save a saloon, drinking
house or billiard room. One or two attempts have been made . . . but they have proved
failures, if we except the German Society . . . and the Union Association, the property
of which was destroyed by the May fire Mr. Shelton, the botanist and mineralogist,
has made the Committee a valuable donation from his collection S. E. Woodworth
Esq. has given it a fine library. Also . . . Maj. Boyd and Capt. William A. Howard have
each made it presents of cabinets of specimens from the various Islands of the Pacific.
The formation of an art association, on a cultural rather than a gallery-
promoting basis, was yet fourteen years away,^^ but there were already
definite stirrings of art appreciation. On February 10, in the "City Intelli-
gence" column, the Alta carried the following item:
San Francisco Art Union. We have been requested to state that the proprietors of
the above named Gallery of Paintings will appropriate one half of their entire receipts
of Tuesday, tomorrow evening, to the erection of a new church for the congregation
of Rev. Dr. [J. L.] Ver Mehr. The Gallery is at No. 277 Montgomery street.
Some three weeks later (April 3), the same journal reported:
The San Francisco Art Union collection of pictures will be disposed of at auction at
the Gallery, 227 Montgomery street, opposite Delmonico's. This collection was selected
with great care ... in New York and will be found to contain works of great beauty
and merit, well worthy the attention of connoisseurs.
More specifically, the art taste of the day is suggested by an item in the
AltaoiJMnt 28:
Wainwright, Byrne and Co. Real Estate and Merchandise Auctioneers: At their old
stand, 276 Montgomery street. James E. Wainwright, Auctioneer: A Large Invoice of
Pictures: i cabinet portrait of Washington, by Tumbull. 2 Esmeraldas, engravings.
2 Paul and Virginias, ditto; 10 female heads, ditto; five oil paintings, landscapes by
Richardson. 1 3 landscapes, French scenes.
In the meantime, books, newspapers and magazines (Godey^s Lady^s
Book, Harper's New Monthly , the Illustrated London News, London
Punch, to mention only a few of those announced in the Alta of January 9)
were arriving by clipper ship and steamer. Among "New Books for Cali-
fornia," Burgess, Gilbert and Still, in the Alta of February 5, 1851, listed
The Ladder of Gold, an English story; Isabella, by the author of An Auto-
biography of an Orphan Girl; Celio or New York Above Ground and
Under Ground, by G. G. Foster, Esq.; David Copperfield, complete, illus-
trated by Boz; et cetera.
3 6 California Historical Society Quarterly
Of the status of San Francisco's own newspapers, at the date of its issue
of January 23, 1 85 1 , the Aha has this to say:
San Francisco is ... by not a few looked upon as a Sodom of wickedness, a Thebes
in want of literary taste But we maintain now 10 newspapers, 8 of them daily papers,
one weekly, and the other semi-occasionally In the order of formation thus: Altaj
News, Journal of Commerce, Herald-Courier, Picayune, Balance No. i, Balance No. 2,
Shipping List, Dr. Rabe^s Punch.
A day-by-day comparison of the character of news items and advertise-
ments appearing between 1850 and i860 in the Alta California and in the
Newburyport Herald, published at a point very nearly opposite San Fran-
cisco on the east coast, reveals a number of not uninteresting facts: there
were in the East, for instance, more accidents by lamps and by lightning
(which is almost unknown as a casualty agent in the western city) ; more
duels, surprising as it may seem, in the ratio of ten to one; about twenty
times as many east-coast advertisements of medicines and health aids, such
as Penobscot Indian cures, Clark's Bitters, Mortimore's Rheumatic Com-
pound and Blood Purifier, Dr. J. A. Tilton's Balm of a Thousand Flowers-
most of such panaceas apparently not required in healthy young San Fran-
cisco.^'' There were many more suicides in the East, although San Francisco
had suffered her quota in the earlier gold rush. But I am constrained to
report that there were more fires in San Francisco and almost ten times as
many cowhidings as were meted out in the East.
MUMMERY
San Francisco has always had a special zeal for the theater. Many books
and articles have been written on the town and the drama, but a more
intimate feeling of participation is to be gained by reading contemporaneous
articles about the building and opening of theaters and the plays presented
on their stages. In the pages of the Alta of 1 85 1, the dramatic pageant unrolls
before us: January 8, at the Jenny Lind there is a presentation of "Did You
Ever Send Your Wife to the Mission Dolores?"; January 18, the French
Vaudeville Company is said to be a great success; April 6, a new theater to
seat 2000 is to be built— 'Heretofore the ladies have objected to the Jenny
Lind's nearness to the gambling joints."^^ And on April 21, speaking of the
Jenny Lind Vaudevilles, the Altars critic wrote:
Notwithstanding the attractions of the Circus and the French Company at the
Adelphi, the New French Company at the Jenny Lind had a very fine audience, mostly
of French citizens, and their performances seemed to give unlimited satisfaction. There
is so much spirit, animation and nature in their style, that a knowledge of their language
is scarcely necessary to a tolerably correct appreciation of their presentations.
On July 8 it is reported that a theater is in process of erection in Dupont
Street opposite the Post Office. It is a very spacious building, says the paper,
and will be opened in about three weeks, under the control of Mesdames
Adalbert, Leonore and Racine.^^ By July 23 the news in the Alta is that:
Paradox Town
37
The new French Theatre on Dupont street . . . will be opened in a few days. The
outside is very neat and the inside will be arranged with a dress circle tier of boxes
and a parquette, so that five or six hundred persons can be seated comfortably. The
French Vaudeville Company, which will perform in this theatre, is a good one.
Two days later, as reported in the Alta of July 26, the proprietors leased
the theater to Dr. Robinson^^ ("late of the Dramatic Museum") et al for
six months, the arrangement being that the French Company was to enact
vaudevilles on Sunday evenings, and on the other evenings the dramatic
company of Dr. Robinson would perform.
On October 4, we read, in the Alta, about another venture:
The magnificent Theatre [the re-built Jenny Lind] of Mr. Maguire,^! now near
completion, opens tonight with one of the best stock companies we have yet seen on
this coast. The plays are "Faint Heart Never Won Fair Lady" and "All That Glitters
is Not Gold." . . . One feature of the evening's performance is the opening address
which will be delivered by Mrs. Woodward . . . the leading actress. She appears for the
first time before a San Francisco audience tonight.
And four days later (October 8), the Jenny Lind gets the following
write-up:
Another large and select audience greeted the performances last night at this beautiful
theatre. A number of ladies graced the first tier of boxes, whose arrival in California
has occurred within the present week. Their "all smiles and attention" testified the
admiration with which they regarded this evidence of California's theatrical taste and
abilities. The performance went off glibly.
In the Alta of October 16, a full description is given of the American
Theater,^^ with its ceiling of "great gold rayed sun and clouds," its first
tier with "white pillars," and its second tier "white and gold," etc.
AJbert Benard de Russailh, an observer of the time, waxes enthusiastic
over the American Theater in his book. Last Adventure. He describes its
very thick carpets, red velvet curtains, red plush box seats and gilt work,
and the paintings^^; and his remarks on the exuberance of San Franciscans
at the play will serve to end these brief glimpses of the theater of 1851.
According to de Russailh, whistling at a European actor paralyzes him;
however,
. . . with Americans, whistling is an expression of enthusiasm; the more they like a
play, the louder they whistle, and when a San Francisco audience bursts into shrill
whistles and savage yells, you may be sure they are in raptures of joy.^*
DO, RE, MI; AND ONE, TWO, THREE, KICK!
San Francisco was also tasting the pleasures of music. On July 16, the
Alta ran the announcement:
A Grand Promenade Concert a la Jullien [sic]. Will take place on Wednesday
evening, July i6th at 8 o'clock in the splendid new Saloon of the Athenaeum in Sacra-
mento St. below Montgomery .35 The managers confidently expect that this entertain-
ment will be found in every respect worthy of the support and patronage of the citizens
of San Francisco. All the available musical talent now in the city, comprising an orches-
tra of eighteen musicians, has been engaged and proper measures have been taken to
38 Calif ornia Historical Society Quarterly
preserve the strictest order and decorum. [The concert was to be the first in a series.]
Pianos for private use were coming in by the dozen. No longer, as for
Stephen Massett's concert of June 22, 1849, ^^^ there only one piano in
town.^^ The Alta of April 16 announced:
Pianos! Pianos! For sale low, at George O. Whitney's Furniture Warerooms, splen-
did Piano-fortes of Gale's and other makers just received, per ships Florida and Robert
Hooper Call and see; on Sacramento st., corner of Webb, between Montgomery
and Kearny.
Other advertisements of pianos for sale by commission merchants show
that F. A. Woodworth and Co., importers of pianofortes, 130 Clay Street,
was only one of a number of firms through which these instruments could
be obtained.^'^ For instance, on October 2, 1851, Mr. W. McKorkell, the
pianist, announced to the "elite of San Francisco" that he was prepared to
give lessons on the piano and to help in the selection of pianos at Mr. Atwill's
Musical Repository on the Plaza.^^
San Francisco has been a dancing city,^^ from the era of the Indian tribal
dances around the shellmounds near the bay, on, through the baile, fan-
dango, and cascaron (egg shell filled with confetti) balls of the Spanish-
speaking residents. In 1851 balls were of frequent occurrence. The Alta
of Wednesday, March 19, 1851, says, under City Intelligence:
... A masquerade ball comes off at Cole's California Exchange, this evening, at which
the Japanese, who were brought to our harbor in the barque, Auckland, will attend in
their native costume. This will be a good, and perhaps the only opportunity that our
citizens will have of seeing these singular beings, the first*^ of their tribe who ever set
foot upon American soil, and who have voluntarily shut themselves out from the
remainder of the world. They will be treated with the greatest degree of respect by
Mr. Cole and his associates, and will doubtless be highly pleased with the entertainment,
and, when they return to their native land, have a good story to tell of the manner in
which they were treated by the Americans.
The masqued ball as an instrument of diplomacy was a success, the Alta
of March 20 reporting that the Japanese guests "appeared to be very much
pleased with the music and dancing of the 'outside barbarians.' " In fact,
from February 11, when the Alta remarked that balls "appear to be the
order of the day in San Francisco. We have masquerade balls, fancy balls,
full dress balls and balls where attention is not paid to dress," until the close
of 1 85 1, press notices of the "barbarians" in the role of dancers follow in
quick succession, with a particularly well attended ball reported in the Alta
of November 7, when five hundred participated and "elegant cakes and
ice cream" were served.
But there was one newsman who was not ashamed to be wistful about
former times. On October 20, 185 1, he wrote in the Alta:
How seldom it is that we meet an old-fashioned fandango such as we used to see
here four years ago. The sound of music on Dupont street attracted our attention as
we passed along. How the old time came o'er us! It was sure enough the fandango of
old California. We forgot for the moment the rush for gold . . . the fires, the present
elegance of balls and hotels and lived for the moment in the past only. When we
Paradox Town 39
returned to the present, we thought how strange the contrast between San Francisco
and Verba Buena. ...
PALATABLES AND POTABLES
Another form of urbanity in entertainment was to be found in the restau-
rants, for whose good fare the city was already beginning to show signs of
its fame-to-be.
On January 7, 1851, the Alta carried an advertisement of the Fountain
Head, Bassett and Winn proprietors, Clay street, "where the greatest variety
of candies ever displayed in this country will be found." Winn had started
out as early as 1 849, vending his candy in the streets from a tray, with the
cry: "Here is your own California candy!" (By 1856 his Fountain Head
had become one of the most elegant eating and catering establishments in
town.*^)
Food-publicity items increased in frequency and piquancy during 1851.*^
For example, in the Alta for January 22, the Venetian Restaurant, Jackson
Street, between Kearny and Montgomery, advertised, "At this well-known
resort of the lovers of good eating, Joseph will serve up tomorrow (Wed.)
with his usual good taste and skill a fine green Turtle in Soups and Steaks."
The turtle-terrapin trade was to grow to large epicurean proportions."*^
Another attraction, "Wild Game," served as a heading for a paragraph
on the editorial page of the Alta of February 8, 185 1, in which the writer
discourses on the city's food resources. According to this expert,
An epicure can enjoy in San Francisco at present most of the luxuries of the best
markets on the Atlantic Coast, and in the item of wild game we excel them all. Our
market is full of fat geese, ducks, curlew and snipe, to say nothing of the enormous
grizzlies and fat venison that are daily brought from the Contra Costa.
On April 13, the Alta announced that Clayton's Oyster Saloon had com-
menced business at Montgomery and Commercial. Skipping over to No-
vember, we find in the Alta on the tenth of that month: "Neptune be
praised! A bed of oysters has been planted on the coast above the mouth of
the harbor, the resultant oysters are large and delicious and a saloon on
Kearny St. will serve them." What the name of the "saloon" was may be
found in the issue of November 15: "The Oyster Saloon opened at last-
on Kearny street just north of the Custom House. Oysters actually in the
shell! Messers William Russell and brother and W. Revere."**
At Mrs. Whitney's Commercial Street saloon, "Ice-cream ... a very pala-
table compound" was offered to tongues scorched with the "blue ruin" of
such drinks as Stingo, Horns, White Lion, Whistler, Old Sea Dog, Eye
Opener, One Eyed Joe, Deacon, Moral Suasion, Tug and Try, Vox Populi,
and I. O. U. (as listed by Hinton Helper in the Land of Gold^^), or with
Jersey Lightnin', one of the potables served in Long- Wharf taverns, "a gill
of which would stop a steamboat," as the Alta of July 1 8 expressed it. If one
insists on palliatives, another in that class was reported in the Alta of June
40 California Historical Society Quarterly
27, 1 85 1, where "a cargo of fine Baldwin apples from Boston packed in ice"
is said to have arrived, via the Horn, in good condition.
ADORNMENT NOVELTIES, CHIEFLY BIFID
If, as Carlyle's Herr Teufelsdrockh remarks in Sartor Resartus,'^^ "Society
is founded upon cloth," then, to all appearances, San Francisco was in 1851
developing a textural foundation for its society. Every ship brought in hand-
some new items in cloth, kid, and jewelry, as well as in parlor fittings. For
instance, in the Alta of February 3, we read that E. Mickle & Co., foot of
Clay Street, have on sale, "2 splendid carved Sofas, covered with crimson
damask. 2 splendid tete-a-tete chairs, ditto. 2 splendid carved, marble-top
side tables. 6 splendid Jim Ring book-cases. Also, an assortment of lacquered
boxes with a variety of arm chairs. . . ." While, on February 5, the ladies are
informed that they can obtain, "White satin and kid slippers, black kid and
bronze colored ditto, Jenny Lind ties. Polka boots . . . morocco kid and calf
boots of every style" at Kelsey, Smith, & Risley, Clay Street, 3 doors above
Montgomery, on March 7 they are further tempted in the Alta by Hayes &
Bailey, Clav Street, opposite the French Theater, who advise that thev have
just received, per steamer Caroline, an entire new stock of jewelry and silver
ware.
Fashion extended even to the children. A news item in the Alta of Decem-
ber 19 comments on "The little Lee boys in a little buggy drawn bv a span
of goats. . . . The harness brass-mounted. . . . The little boy who drives wears
gloves. . . . Both very stylishly dressed and jaunty."
In one particular respect San Francisco in 1851 was already exhibiting
some of its fashion freedoms and originalities. On July 7, the Alta, under the
heading, Boston Notions and Bloomer Fashions, discusses "bifiditv" in
general, and suggests that California is suited to it and should receive the
innovation with less surprise because of the prevalence of the Chinese
women's bifurcated costume along San Francisco's streets.*^ The next day,
appeared the following description, unaltered as to spelling:
The New Style of Dress. The new style of ladies' dresses has already been intro-
duced into San Francisco. Mrs. Cole, who has a ladies' dress store on Clay Street, next
door to Messers Kelsey, Smith and Risley, has received the patterns and not only has
a figure in the window with the dress on, but wears one herself in her store. It is really
very pretty . . . Mrs. Cole's dress consists of green merino, fitting well to the figure above
the waist and reaching below the knee some 3 or 4 inches. Below this are loose, flowing
trowsers of pink satin, fastened below the ancle . . . Mrs. Cole has already received
orders for three dresses and the ladies appear to like it but from its singularity scarcely
dare adopt it at present.
Mrs. Cole was a reaHstic window-advertiser, as may be seen from the
following comment in the Alta of July 1 1 :
The New Dress Mrs. Cole has placed a new figure in her window which gives
a much better idea of the dress than the former hurriedly got-up doll. The living models
inside, however, attract the greatest attention. The adoption of the new dress will
Paradox Town 41
destroy some of the poetical ideas which have associated themselves with the long skirts.
The old couplet: "Her feet beneath her petticoat/ Like little mice stole in and out,"
will have to be changed to something like: "Her feet from out her trouserloons/
Hang like the cars from air balloons."
The innovation was anything but static, for, on July 14 the Alta said,
A Touch Beyond the Bloomer: The city was taken quite by surprise yesterday
afternoon by observing a woman in company with her male companion, crossing the
lower side of the Plaza, dressed in a style a little beyond the Bloomer. She was magnifi-
cently arrayed in a black satin skirt, very short, with flowing red satin trousers, a
splendid yellow crape shawl and a silk turban a la Turque. She really looked mag-
nificent and was followed by a large retinue of men and boys, who appeared to be
highly pleased with the style.
On August 1 7 the Alta reported, with composure, that "two very respect-
able ladies of San Francisco are seen in bloomers— and unexceptionable
bloomers." And on the twenty-eighth of that month it replaced the latitudi-
nal preposition, "beyond," used before, by one more specifically directional,
thus: "A Touch Above the Bloomer: A lady appears in bloomers and a
man's tile hat, new and glossy, and attracts much attention."
Thereafter the bloomer excitement suffered a gradual deflation.
QUADRUPEDAL PERFORMANCES
In 1 85 1 horse-drawn equipages appeared in number and elegance on the
dirt or plank streets of San Francisco, and the community was very proud
of these conveyances which brought the vehicular splendors of the Atlantic
states to western roadways.*^ But among them appeared the "reckless Jehus,"
the drivers of "fast crabs,"*^ who insisted on spurring their steeds along the
road to the Mission or along Stockton Street at twenty miles an hour, en-
dangering the lives of pedestrians and forcing enactment of laws against
speeding.^^ The necessity, also, of protecting the property of those drivers
observing the more conventional rates of locomotion can be understood
from the following in the Alta of June 15:
Handsome Turn-Oxjts. In former days, those who did not walk in San Francisco
rode on a native horse with the clumsy but comfortable California saddle and sported
spurs something less than a foot and a half in diameter. Now, however, our streets are
graced with some very handsome turn-outs, in the shape of carriages, buggies, chaises
and almost every vehicle known in the Atlantic States. . . .^i We yesterday saw, standing
in Montgomery street, a handsome buggy and beautiful pair of white horses with gay
trappings. They form as pretty a turn-out as is often seen anywhere.
Among the drivers of "handsome equipages," unfortunately, were not
only the members of substantial families, but gamblers, murderers— the
dubious ones^^; a fact which brings us to the paradoxical happenings men-
tioned in the first two paragraphs of this paper. They might be summarized
as:
URBANITY IN REVERSE
Aside from exhibitions of personal violence, the year 1851 saw two more
42 California Historical Society Quarterly
holocausts sear the city. The fire on May 3-4 destroyed a thousand buildings,
and the red reflection on the sky was said to have been visible as far as Mon-
terey; and there was still another fire on June 22.^^ Catastrophes of tliis kind
exposed, in some places, the thinness of the urban crust. A young sailor,
newly arrived off a French ship, was reported as having been seen walking
up the wharfside hill, innocently observing the smouldering ruins about him.
Wishing to light his pipe, he stooped to pick up a live coal. An excited citi-
zen, seeing the gesture, cried out, "Incendiary! " and in a matter of moments,
the boy was kicked to death by the crowd.^*
On the other side of the picture were the recuperative powers of the city.
Benard de Russailh remarked: "Even while his house is burning, aii Ameri-
can will think only of how to rebuild it. He lets his friends save the furni-
ture, jumps on his horse, and gallops like mad to the next town, so that he
can arrive before the news of the fire and buy building material before the
prices have gone up."^^
A few quotations from the Alta California of 1851 will serve to show the
extent of the large and small savage, frontier episodes that made up the grim
side of the town's record. The issue of January 8 contains a "Notice to
Timber Thieves and Wharf Rats. . . . They Will be Shot." It is signed by
George Gordon, Lumber and Timber Agent, California Street Wharf. On
January 14 a horse thief is arrested, and on the nineteenth a duel is fought
on the Mission Road. January 28: "We saw," says a reporter, "a drunken
hombre yesterday riding into some of the saloons on the plaza a la Tom
Hyer. It is time these scenes of rowdyism ceased to be allowed among us."
"When," asks the Alta on February 7, "is our city to be lighted with gas?
The frequent night robberies . . . demand of the city authorities that some-
thing should be done."^^ On April 3 appears the following:
More Cowhiding. Two brothers of this city had a rencounter on Sansome St. yes-
terday afternoon in which one used a cowhide pretty freely with the other. Cowhiding
is getting to be a pretty popular amusement in this city, and we think an invoice of
cow hides and large-sized riding-whips would meet with a ready sale amongst us.
Cryptically (?) the Alta of May 3 1 said: "As wives become more plenti-
ful, flogging increases." But there is nothing hidden in the statement on page
19 of Parker's San Francisco Directory of 1852-53 that "On the night of
June 10 [11], 1851, Jenkins was hanged by the Vigilance Committee from
a beam at the end of the old adobe in the Plaza." Nor can one be in doubt as
to conditions obtaining in San Francisco, when the leading editorial in the
Alta of June 1 3 says,
The Vigilance Committee: We publish, by request, in another column, the con-
stitution and bye -lays [sic] of the recently organized Society of Citizens, who have
associated themselves together under the name of the Vigilance Committee for the
protection of life and property and the punishment of all criminals. The names of the
members signed to the document is [sic] a sufficient guaranty This will remove all
the objections against secret organization and star-chamber proceedings. Etc.
Paradox Town 43
Cheerfully, on June 19, the Alta remarks, "Quietness: Since the name of
Vigilance Committee has become an electrifier to the pests of the city, we
have heard of no escape of prisoners, no breaking of jails, no cayoting from
the station-house. . . ." But on June 25 we read that a Mexican was "given
two dozen lashes in front of the Oriental Hotel." And three days later
(June 28), a celebrated Sydney character known as the Slasher was arrested.
"The County Jail being now ready to receive prisoners, it is to be hoped that
'the Slasher' will be accommodated with quarters which he will not be so
ready to leave." The next month (as reported on July 12) Jim Stuart, the
thief, was hanged by the Vigilance Committee at the Market Street Wharf;
and on Sunday, August 24, Sam Whittaker and Robt. McKenzie met their
deaths by the action of the same committee (Alta, August 25). A respite in
violence is noted by this journal in its issue of September 1 2 : "Yesterday was
frightfully dull in incident. Nobody was killed, no coroner's inquests were
held, no robberies, no legs broken. One old horse only ran away down
Washington Street."
By the end of 1 85 1, San Francisco was fully aware that, in spite of its fires,
undulatory gold fever, thieves, murderers, gamblers, etc., it was destined to
be a great city. Cooke & LeCount, booksellers, demonstrated this in their
compilation entitled A Tile^; or, A Glance at the Wealth of the Monied
Men of San Francisco and Sacramento City also an Accurate List of the
Lawyers . . . (San Francisco, 185 1). The preface proclaims the aim of the
compilation to be:
To dissipate, as far as possible, the impression entertained by those residing in the
Eastern States that California, San Francisco and Sacramento City are without per-
manency and that our wealth, if any, consists in the possession of Real Estate, which is
held at an inflated valuation. . . . When those who are now lavish in their epithets upon
us, for sustaining what they are pleased to denominate a humbug, shall have passed
away and are forgotten, San Francisco, Sacramento City, Stockton and other places of
less importance, will be pointed out as evidences of the boundless resources of our
State, the enterprise of her early settlers and of the breadth and solidity of that govern-
ment, whose liberal principles encourage them in founding a mighty empire on the
shores of the Pacific.
Steam-beer tavern-keepers? Gamblers all? Ditch diggers? Scum? as was
sometimes alleged with respect to San Francisco's social origins? Far from
it; but miners, merchants, sea captains, importers, attorneys, real-estate in-
vestors, many of them with the "best of connections" back East, and back
South, and possessing intellectual and spiritual substance as well as the more
obviously shining substance of San Francisco's sandy acres and Sierra foot-
hill gold.
As we have seen, San Francisco was still, in 1851, violent in its contrasts-
murderers and vigilance-committee members, gambling dens and churches,
rum mills and fashionable restaurants, "serious affrays" and benevolent so-
cieties, bullets and bloomers, horse thieves and Harpefs Magazine. In the
44 California Historical Society Quarterly
frisky formative year of 1 85 1, San Francisco was definitely a Paradox Town.
NOTES
1. An adapted chapter from The Spectacular San Franciscans, to be published by
E. P. Dutton & Co. in its "Society in America" series.
2. Urban-mindedness is discussed by J. N. Bowman in his "Birthdays of Urban
Communities, this Quarterly, XXIII (March 1948), 53.
3. As stated by Mary F. Williams, History of the San Francisco Co?mnittee of Vigil-
ance of 18 J I (Berkeley, 192 1), p. 170, "the toleration of the criminal situation of 1850
and 1 85 1 was due in part to a patient acceptance of transitional conditions, and not
wholly to a selfish indifference and a blunted civic conscience."
4. James Miller Guinn, History of the State of California .. . (Los Angeles, 1909),
chapter on Agriculture; also Ruth M. McG. Solovsky, "Spanish and Mexican Ranchos
in the San Francisco Bay Region (manuscript)," Univ. Calif., M.A. Thesis, 192 1.
5. Doris Marion Wright, "The Making of Cosmopolitan California," this Quarterly,
XIX (Dec. 1940), 323-43; XX (March 1941), 65-79, especially table on p. 340; also
Julia Cooley Altrocchi, The Old California Trail . . . (Caldwell, Idaho, 1945), pp. 18, 19.
See also Alta California, May 24, 1851, for large population of French in San Francisco.
6. H. H. Bancroft, California Inter Pocula (San Francisco, 1888), p. 305.
7. Oliver Carlson, A Mirror for Calif omians (Indianapolis and New York, 1941),
pp. 40, 88.
8. Bancroft, op. cit., p. 666^ in commenting on the noticeable absence of homes in
early San Francisco, said that "stores, saloons . . . boarding-houses and hotels made a
metropolis "
9. See Alta California, June 14, 1851, for the wind which "...blew off the hats of
quiet and respectable people, who in return 'blowed' the wind"; and issues of June 11
and 14, 185 1, for references to the "wetting-down" carts.
ID. Bancroft, op. cit., pp. 281, 282, describes mud in the early streets of San Francisco.
11. James M. Parker's Directory (San Francisco, 1852-53), p. 14.
12. Alta California, Dec. 25, 1850, tells of the candy carts at street comers, with the
crying of the venders extolling the virtues of hoarhound, peppermint, etc.
13. For the daguerreotype wagon on Washington Street, see Alta California, Oct. 6,
1851.
14. H. H. Bancroft, History of California (1884-90), VI, 245, n. 78, speaks of organ
grinding as a "profession."
15. Alta California, ]unt 18, 1851.
16. Frank Soule, John H. Gihon, and James Nisbet, Annals of San Francisco (New
York, 1855), pp. 647-52, for early San Francisco hotels; see also The Argonaut, Feb. 1,
1879, p. 4.
17. Lawrence family papers, now under seal at the California State Library, Sacra-
mento, give a description of life at the early San Francisco hotels.
18. IdCTfl.
19. Augustus Theodore Barry and Benjamin A. Patten, Men and Memories of San
Francisco in the Spring of '50 (San Francisco, 1873), p. 136, give the successive locations
of Mrs. Pettit's boarding-house.
20. Alta California, Feb. 9, 1851, pubhshed a list of churches functioning at that earlier
period. See also Clifford M. Drury, "A Chronology of Protestant Beginnings in Cali-
fornia," this Quarterly (June 1947), 163-74; ^"^ Parker's Directory, op. cit., p. 16,
which supplies the list as of July 1850.
Paradox Town 45
21. Soule et al, op. cit., p. 66^, show the interior of the California Exchange with a
"Fancy Ball" in progress.
22. Bancroft, History of California, VI, 784.
23. Guinn, op. cit., chapter on Education; see also Soule et al, op. cit., pp. 677-78.
24. See note 17, above; also, "Journal of Ernest de Massey. A Frenchman in the Gold
Rush," translated by Marguerite E. Wilbur, this Quarterly, VI (March 1927), 40,
n. 36; and F. A. Culmer, " 'General' John Wilson . . .," ibid., XXVI (Dec. 1947), 338,
for mention of the lady as a correspondent of the Picayune and/or the Delta. In the
collection of the Society are two reminders of Mrs. Wills: viz., one of the original
printings of the ode, and the jeweled brooch given her in token of the city-council's
odic appreciation.
25. H. H. Bancroft, Chronicles of the Builders (San Francisco, 1891-92), VII, chapter
xix, entitled Education; and Benjamin E. Lloyd, Lights and Shades in Sa?i Francisco
(San Francisco, 1876), pp. 472-75; also Soule et al, op. cit., p. 679.
26. The Calif ornian, Jan. 14, 1851, describes the opening of the Art Union, "for the
exhibition of alien talent and the encouragement of local talent." There is an excellent
retrospective article by John S. Hittell, "Art in San Francisco," in the Pacific Monthly
(formerly the Hesperian), July 1863, 99-107.
27. In San Francisco, those indisposed in any way were advised, in the advertising
section of A. W. Morgan's San Francisco Directory of 1852, to take Dr. Robinson's
celebrated Vegetable Bitters, made of California vegetables at the factory on Telegraph
Hill. Also advertised was Dr. Woodbury's California Bitters, "manufactured in this
City," where there were said to be seven agents.
28. The Alta California of Nov. 4, 1850, notes the establishment of the Jenny Lind
Theater in the second story of the Parker House on Portsmouth Square. See also
Bancroft, History of California, VI, 245, n. 75, for the various locations of the Jenny
Lind. In his California Inter Pocula, p. 265, he remarks that this theater "was a place
that few respectable persons would care to enter."
29. de Russailh, op. cit., p. 24.
30. See Constance Rourke, Troupers of the Gold Coast . . . (New York, 1928), p. 31,
for Robinson and Everard's Dramatic Museum of 1850; also, Bancroft's History of
California, VI, 244. In the San Francisco Directory for 1854, D. G. Robinson (com-
pounder of the vegetable bitters mentioned in note 27, above) is listed as a "comedian."
31. For information on Thomas Maguire as impresario, see the Golden City, Aug. 2,
1868, article xiv on the "Pioneer Theatre"; the Temperance Mirror, Jan. 24, 1857; and
the Calif ornian, Nov. 5, 1864.
32. The Alta California for Sept. 20, 1849, gave a full announcement of the first
incorporation and building of the American Theater.
33. de Russailh, op. cit., p. 19. 34. Ibid., p. 20.
35. As to the earlier structure, the Alta California of May 12, 185 1, announced its
destruction by fire, as of that instant.
36. See Soule et al, op. cit., p. 6$$, where it is said that the piano used by Massett was
loaned by "Mr. E. Harrison, the collector of the port "
37. Compare the Argonaut, Aug. 14, 1905, p. 126. The Calif omiaji, Feb. 4, 1865, p. 12,
speaks of the death of F. A. Woodworth, son of the author of the "Old Oaken Bucket,"
and gives a sketch of the former's life.
38. "McKorkle, the harpist," is referred to on Nov. 22, 1855, ^^ Dorothy Huggins,
A Continuation of the Annals of San Francisco (this Society, Sp. Publ. 15, 1939), p. 87;
and a William McKorkle is listed in the San Francisco Directory for 1856-57, no
profession being indicated.
39. Bancroft, History of California, VI, 243, n. 64, alludes to a masquerade ball on
46 California Historical Society Quarterly
Feb. 22, 1845. See George D. Lyman, "The First Masquerade Ball in San Francisco,"
this Quarterly, XI (June 1932), 142 If.
40. An article signed by Wm. D. M., in the Alta California of Feb. 5, 1850, entitled
"Life in San Francisco," speaks of the "perfect Babylonian combination" in San Fran-
cisco and hsts Chinese, Japanese, Dutch, Turks, Spaniards, the fair-haired Saxon, and
others. This pre-Perry (1854) reference to Japanese on the west coast of America is
interesting. See also Bancroft, History of California, VI, 222, where mention is made of
". . . the Mongols, with their . . . cousins of Nipon," in the San Francisco throngs of
1849-50.
41. Soule et al, op. cit., pp. 642-45. The Firemen^s Journal and Military GazettCj
Feb. 23, 1856, gives a description in verse of Winn's Fountain Head.
42. On March 7, 1851, the Alta California announced the "Opening of the New
French Restaurant, A La Ville du Havre," L. Coytier & Co., Jackson St. cor. of Kearny.
Compare Robert O'Brien, "Riptides," San Francisco Chronicle, June 3, 1946. Barry and
Patten, op. cit., p. 93, mention three French restaurants, as of 1850.
43. Caspar T. Hopkins made a voyage in search of sweet potatoes from Peru and
terrapin from the Galapagos Islands early in 1 850, which he describes in his "A Business
Expedition," published in the Quarterly, Society of CaUfornia Pioneers, June 1932.
44. Barry and Patten, op. cit., p. 125, attribute to Tony Oakes, Kearny St. north of
Washington, the serving of the first local oysters.
45. Hinton R. Helper, The Land of Gold (Baltimore, 1855), p. 66.
46. Thomas Carlyle, Sartor Resartus; The Life and Opinions of Herr Teufelsdrockh
(New York, 1831), p. 40.
47. Amelia Jenks Bloomer (1818-94), woman's rights advocate and temperance
worker, was a native of New York. She took up the idea of dress reform (originated
by Mrs. Elizabeth Smith Miller) in 1849. The style at first favored seems to have been
a short skirt with loose trousers gathered around the ankles.
48. For the expression "turn-outs," see the Alta California for June 15, 1851.
49. Alta California, Oct. 13, 1851, mentions "fast crabs."
50. On April 3, 1851, the Alta records an arrest for speeding along Stockton St.
51. The question of Upper California's first carriage has been much debated. Nellie
Van de Grift Sanchez, Spanish Arcadia (Los Angeles, 1929), p. 300, quotes a statement
to the effect that: ". . . in 1842-43 they began to introduce calesas and carts with spoked
wheels from the United States." See I. T. Martin, compiler. Recollections of Elizabeth
Benton Fremont (New York, 191 2), p. 25, for description of a six-seated surrey built
for Mrs. Fremont in New Jersey and sent around the Horn in 1849— "the only carriage
in the territory."
52. de Russailh, op. cit., p. 34.
53. Alta California, issues of May 6, May 15, and June 23, 185 1, give contemporaneous
descriptions of these fires; see also Parker's Directory, op. cit., p. 18.
54. Barry and Patten, op. cit., p. 192.
^$. de Russailh, op. cit., pp. 61 ff.
§6. The eventual introduction of gas to San Francisco streets (three miles of pipe
and 84 gas lamps in place of the previous oil lamps) was celebrated with a banquet at
the Oriental Hotel, Feb. 11, 1854. (Alta California, Feb. 12, 1854.)
Thomas Vincent Cator
Populist Leader of California
By Harold F. Taggart
(Concluded)
The next day the legislature met in joint session. The Democratic council
of war had arranged the absence of a Republican assemblyman from San
Francisco,^* thus assuring White of the majority. However, G. G. Goucher,
senator from Napa, was so indisposed when he arrived at the capitol that
he had to be taken to the office of Sam Leake, an office that overlooked
the assembly chamber. Assemblyman A. J. Bledsoe, RepubHcan of Eureka
and popular Alliance member, noted the absence of both McGowan and
Goucher and moved for a call of the house. John Gaffey and Leake hur-
riedly wheeled Goucher through the crush of the crowd to the floor to
vote against the motion, although it is not known who actually responded
to Goucher's name. The vote stood 59 to 60 (Kerns voting with the affirma-
tive). The vote for senator followed that of the previous day until the name
of Kerns was called. He voted for White, and immediately bedlam broke
loose. Before the totals were announced, the impulsive Bretz jumped to his
feet and in a rambling speech attacked Kerns and Cannon, charging the
corrupt use of money. Cannon, who sat in the first row of the balcony,
arose and shouted back amid the confusion and noise.^^ Eventually the
results were announced: White 61, Cator 7, and the Republican vote widely
scattered.
That same evening the many Populists in Sacramento denounced the
"treachery" of Cannon and Kerns and in effect read them out of the party.
As Dore had prophesied, the two men "caught fits." Populist papers were
full of bitter attacks, and county Alliances passed resolutions denouncing
the two men. Immediately following the election in November 1892, Popu-
lism was ready to dissolve. Then, as the fight to stand solid for the party's
candidate developed. Populists found a new feeling of loyalty and pride.
Some even argued that they had defeated the Republicans in 1892 and
would win over the Democrats in 1 894. The party had gained a resourceful
leader.
1894: POPULISM CAUSES DEFEAT OF DEMOCRATIC PARTY
The panic of 1893 came almost with Cleveland's inauguration for his
second term, after defeating Benjamin Harrison. Depression doomed many
Populist farms, but it raised the political expectations of the impoverished
owners. Populists were confident that the party could capitalize on the
divisions within the two major parties on the money question. Following
47
48 California Historical Society Quarterly
the call by Cleveland for a special session of congress, to repeal the Sherman
silver-purchase act, a great protest was raised in California. Most of the
Republican newspapers and many Republican politicians, a small minority
of the Democratic newspapers, a larger proportion of the politicians, and
all the Populist papers and leaders joined in the chorus. Cator was in his
element, expounding the economics of money and the need for free coinage
of silver. He spoke at a mass meeting in San Francisco sponsored by Popu-
lists; and again, in connection with a state- wide demonstration promoted
by the Bimetallic League, he was the main attraction at San Jose. His papers
indicate many such meetings. He debated the question with John P. Irish
in the columns of the Stockton Evening Mail.
Congress passed the repeal, but the California delegation reflected the
strong interest in free silver prevalent in the state. Five representatives voted
for Bland's free-silver amendment and against repeal; two (Thomas Geary,
Democrat, and Cannon) voted against the amendment and for repeal.^^
Both senators, George C. Perkins (Republican) and White, voted against
repeal. Populists in California approached the election with some confi-
dence. They knew that the clique of Cleveland appointees did not repre-
sent the rank and file of the Democratic party, and they knew, too, that
the Republican editors and orators were out of step with eastern Repub-
licanism on the money question.^^
The People's party proceeded to woo the labor vote. The state Alliance
at Fresno, October 18 and 19, 1893, helped organize the Industrial Legion,
hoping to make it a "militant auxiliary of the People's Party among urban
workers as the Alliance was among the farmers."^^ At a conference of
Alliance men and unionists in San Francisco, February 22, 1894, a Socialist
element almost wrecked the meeting. Two nights later there was a mass
meeting at Metropolitan Hall. "Every reference to a political union of
California farm workers and wage earners was loudly cheered."^^ Cator,
J. V. Webster, and A. W. Thompson, editor of the People's Press, were the
speakers. While the Populist leaders, such as Cator, held aloof, individual
Populists participated in the organization of such armies of unemployed as
"General" Fry's, which left Los Angeles on March 16 and "General"
Kelley's, which started from San Francisco on April 3 with 600 men.
Cator took part in a mass meeting at Metropolitan Hall on July 6, which
had been called by the Populists in sympathy with the striking railway
union.^^
Leading up to the state convention, the county conventions, on the direc-
tion of Cator, instructed delegates to oppose fusion. The state convention
was held in the capitol at Sacramento. J. V. Webster, a farmer of Creston,
who had been a member of the constitutional convention of 1879 and a
leader in farmer organizations since that year, was nominated for governor
over D. T. Fowler of Fresno. Cator was unanimously nominated for U. S.
Thomas Vincent Cator
49
senator. In recognition of labor, A. J. Gregg, carpenter of Alameda, was
nominated for lieutenant-governor and M. McGlynn, a printer of San Fran-
cisco, was named for secretary of state. John Dore was placed on the ticket
for controller. One of the planks in a long, involved platform opposed
fusion with any other party. The Republicans nominated M. M. Estee for
governor; the Democrats, James Budd.
The Populists waged a vigorous campaign. Cator spoke in practically
every city and town in the state, each speech a lecture on money and the
need for the free coinage of silver at i6 to i. Webster and Dore toured
the coast and the valleys. A Democratic editor reported to Thomas Geary:
". . . Half of our forces have gone over to the Populists and the A. P. A.'s
are raising the d — 1 with all the parties."^^ R. H. Beamer, shrewd Demo-
cratic member of the board of equalization, sized up the situation in June:
Criticisms of the administration fill the air. It requires a good deal to stand up and
meet the issues that are presented. I think the Republicans will carry the state. The
Populists will poll about 60,000 My greatest fear is in the Populists. It is my opinion
that Democrats will predominate in that organization this year.
Beamer went on to say that he would have received the endorsement of
the Populists but for the "iron rule of Thomas V. Cator."^^
The voters gave the Republicans a sweeping victory, except in the case
of governor: Budd received 111,944 votes, Estee 110,738 and Webster
51,304.^^ Dore received the largest vote of any Populist, 68,450. Six Repub-
licans and one Democrat were elected to congress. Only one Populist, J. L.
Barker of Santa Barbara, was elected to the legislature on a straight ticket.
Two were elected as a result of fusion with Republicans— Calvin Ewing of
San Francisco, and A. J. Bledsoe of Eureka. Although the party had doubled
its vote, certain Populists were disturbed; looking to office, they saw a
definite disadvantage in the middle-of-the-road policy.
CALIFORNIA SHOUTS "16 TO i"
The year 1895 was filled in California with propaganda for free silver,
stimulated chiefly by Republican members of the Bimetallic League and
by Republican editors. This worried sincere Populists, such as Dore, who
did not want to give up the principles of Populism for any political advan-
tage that might be obtained from the support of silver. The Alliance was
disintegrating, the Industrial Legion had folded completely, a large propor-
tion of the Populist press had faded out, and Socialists were creeping into
the councils of urban Populism. Other Populists followed national leaders,
such as H. E. Taubeneck, in the movement to collaborate with the silver
men in the wistful hope that the People's party would carry the banner of
silver in 1 896. Cator worked together with George W. Baker, an attorney
for the Southern Pacific Railroad, and head of the Bimetallic League, to
popularize silver.
A state-wide silver convention was held in San Francisco, August 19-21,
50 California Historical Society Quarterly
1895, promoted by Baker, Timothy Guy Phelps, a RepubHcan leader since
1 858, and such newspapers as the San Francisco Chronicle. Cator was one of
the main speakers on the second day. According to the Examiner, "he took
advantage of the opportunity to do some veiled missionary work for the
Populist cause."^* The purpose of Baker was served. The names of the men
at the convention, and the sympathetic publicity given throughout the
state, convinced Democrat and Republican alike that the success of his
particular party in 1 896 hinged on its endorsement of free silver. Most of
the Populists were resentful that the silver men had not come to them.
William Jennings Bryan visited the bay region in September 1895, com-
bining vacation with a silver campaign and probably "with an eye to the
nourishment of a Presidential boom."^^ Baker presided at the San Francisco
meeting and invited Phelps, Samuel Shortridge and Cator to the speaker's
platform.
Baker promoted a debate on the silver question. Cator and John P. Irish,
who had argued the issue in 1893, now debated the issue in San Francisco,
Santa Rosa, Los Angeles, San Diego, Sacramento, Fresno, Marysville and
Oakland, before large crowds. Cator invariably had the support of the
audience and received most of the applause. However, the nimble Irish was
listened to with interest and generally with respect, for he was very popular
as an orator. Populist leaders were conspicuous in the conduct of each
debate.
At the end of 1 895 Cator and Baker believed that neither of the old parties
would adopt a free-silver plank nor nominate a silver candidate. Cator
urged upon Donnelley and other national leaders that the party's national
convention be held at the same time and same place as that of the Silver
party convention, after the conventions of the old-line parties.
1896: FUSION FORCED ON POPULISTS
California Populists were optimistic as they met in Sacramento on May
1 1, 1896, for their state convention, one week after the Republican conven-
tion. The unanimous endorsement of silver at 16 to i by that convention
did not worry the Populists for they knew even better than the Republicans
that the certain nomination of McKinley would mean the repudiation of
silver.^^ Both Cator and his wife were official delegates to the convention.
The only question that caused any real debate was that of the nomination
for U. S. senator. D. T. Fowler argued that it worked against the success
of the legislative candidates. Cator had a ready answer; he reminded them
that 62,000 votes had been cast for Populist candidates for the assembly
in 1894, 11,000 more than for governor. On roll call the convention by a
vote of 248 to 68 agreed to a nomination. Cator was then nominated without
opposition. Prior to the Democratic national convention. Populists were
generally quite hopeful and hence opposed to any kind of fusion.
37
Thomas Vincent Cator 5 1
On July 6, at Chicago, Taubeneck, Weaver, Cator, and other Populist
leaders drafted a manifesto urging the Democrats to nominate Senator
H. M. Teller, who had bolted the RepubHcan convention. The endorsement
of silver and the nomination of Bryan on July 10 by the Democratic con-
vention brought squarely before the PopuHsts the question of fusion.
The California delegation to the national convention of the People's
party arrived in St. Louis on July 20, very much divided on the presidential
nomination. Donnelley, Taubeneck, Debs, and Vandervoort wanted a sep-
arate ticket; Senator William Allen, Weaver, Mrs. Lease, and Coxey were
ready to accept Bryan and Sewall. A third group, including most of the
rank and file, were wiUing to nominate Bryan if he would accept a Populist
running mate. Many letters from California were delivered to Cator on his
arrival from New York, July 2 1 , most of the writers urging the nomination
of Bryan on a Populist platform.
The Populist convention was about the most turbulent in party history.
Thomas Watson of Georgia was nominated for vice-president, California
casting 26 out of 35 votes for Watson. Bryan was nominated for president
by a large majority. The Silver party, which had marked time while the
Populists wrangled, nominated Bryan and Sewall.
The campaign in California was an exciting one. The Populist party was
greatly over-shadowed by all the other parties, chiefly because of the lack
of funds. The Republicans spent huge sums; the Democrats were hard put,
but did receive much help from the leaders of the Silver party. Cator had
a working agreement with White by which Populists would seek Demo-
crat endorsement of Populist candidates for the assembly in trade for Pop-
ulist endorsement of Democrats for the senate.^® There was much wire-
pulling, because of the ambitions of local politicians of both parties, but
by November 3 the problem was simplified to such an extent that outside
of San Francisco (where as usual there was a very complicated situation)
there were opposing candidates of the two parties in only five assembly
districts and in one senatorial district. Fusion was effected on congressmen-
three Populists and four Democrats. Cator spoke at meetings throughout
the state. He became definitely the candidate of the allied parties for the
senate. The result of his effort was a general vilification by Republican
editors, second only to that accorded Bryan. In their campaign of fear and
coercion, there was scarcely a term that could be associated with radicalism
that was overlooked.
Eight Republican electors and one Democrat were chosen. The allied
parties secured four congressmen: two Populists, C. A. Barlow of the sixth
district and Dr. C. H. Castle of the seventh; and two Democrats, Marion
De Vries of the second district and Maguire of the fourth. There were
eleven Populists elected to the assembly. The legislature on January 12,
52 Calif ornia Historical Society Quarterly
1897, elected George C. Perkins to the U. S. senate for a second term, the
PopuHsts voting for Cator.
POPULISM FALLS APART
Democrats and PopuHsts began immediately to spar for positions in the
elections of 1898. James Maguire, former Democratic congressman from
San Francisco, was soon recognized as that party's candidate for governor.
James Barry, ever ardent booster for Maguire, wrote in January 1897:
". . . but for Cator's selfish ambition the Democrats and Populists together
would have a majority of the legislature and James Maguire would be
the senator."^^ An attempt to keep the three allies together on the silver
cause was made in the spectacular sweep across the state by Bryan, who in
July 1 897 made fifteen speeches in six days.*^
The state committee of the People's party on October 28 adopted reso-
lutions, undoubtedly drafted by Cator, deprecating past experience with
union and urging all who looked for deliverance from monopoly to join
the People's party. In December Barry charged that Cator, in the interests
of the Southern Pacific, sought to split the Populist party.*- A Populist
editor answered Barry:
We think we know the temper of the Populists in this country, and we are certain
that they are not to be won to the support of Maguire by lying and blackguarding
Cator, for they venerate him for his ability, patriotism and for the great sacrifice he
has made for principle.*^
C. A. Barlow from Washington assured Cator that he was with him
". . . to the death against Maguire":
This is my position for several reasons, but the first of these is that you have been
to me everything in my political life and now to see the man who gloated over failure
of yours get any advantage from the party that you have made, more than any other,
I say never.*^
E. M. Wardall, secretary to Barlow, asserted to Cator that Castle had
resisted the pressure of Maguire Democrats and definitely opposed all
fusion.**
Early in March Cator forwarded to Wardall, state chairman, a form for
the call of the state convention, setting a date a month earlier than the
other conventions. Barlow at once replied:
Wardall has been in a fearful sweat since he received that call from you Your
letter was like a thunderbolt to him. It was at variance with all that had been thought
of before and also out of harmony with all the word that he has received from all over
the state.
He tried a bit of subtlety, suggesting that with White out of the way, the
chances were better than ever for the election of a Populist senator.*^ Now
that the decision had to be made. Barlow and other politically ambitious
Populists showed a keen interest in fusion. Populist editors sought advice
from Cator, most of them suggesting fusion.
Thomas Vincent Cator
53
As the Populists met in Sacramento, July 1 1, 1898, the papers were full
of statements; Cator, Webster and Bretz denounced fusion; George Mon-
tieth, who had run as a Populist for assembly in 1896 against the fusion
candidate, and E. L. Hutchinson argued its advantages.*^ The next day
Hutchinson was chosen temporary chairman over Webster, showing the
strength of the fusion faction. Cator for the first time was left off the reso-
lutions committee. That night a Democratic conference committee and
the executive committee of the Silver party held meetings.*^ Soon after the
convention met on the thirteenth, a recess was taken during which the
fusion wing got together in the senate chamber, the middle-of-the-road
faction in the Supreme Court chamber, and the three conference commit-
tees in the assembly chamber. The convention reconvened and the platform
was adopted unanimously. At the call for nominations, Cator made a fight-
ing speech, attacked Maguire's record, and presented a resolution that the
candidate, if present, must accept the platform, or, if absent, must telegraph
his acceptance. Maguire and T. W. H. Shanahan of Shasta County were
nominated, the former winning on the first ballot, 154 to 135.
That same night the anti-fusionists met in the senate chamber, declared
theirs the true People's party and unanimously nominated Shanahan for
governor. The next morning the state ticket was completed, and the plat-
form, which had been adopted the day before, was adopted by the bolters
in toto. So the Populists entered the campaign with two sets of candidates
on identical platforms. There was much bitterness and name-calling. Barlow
in parting company with Cator reminded him that union had been the
policy since Cator's "magnificent action" at St. Louis. He plainly told Cator
that it was generally believed that Cator's personal enmity toward Maguire
had produced the split.*^ The Democrats on August 1 8 nominated Maguire
by acclamation; the Republicans, after some skirmishing for sectional ad-
vantage, on August 24 nominated Henry Gage. The Supreme Court on
September 30 ruled out the middle-of-the-road ticket, an action that drove
most of that faction into the Republican party. Shanahan and Webster in
printed statements blasted the fusionists. Cator took no part in the cam-
paign, made no public statement prior to the election. The Republicans
won a decisive victory.*^ In December Cator wrote the obituary for his
party:
The attempt in 1898 to finally annex it [People's Party] permanently to the Demo-
cratic Party was equivalent to dissolution and fully warrante<3 all who Hke myself were
former Republicans in returning and renewing allegiance to the Republican Party. It
is apparent that the main support of the People's Party came from those who thought
free coinage of silver at the ratio of sixteen to one a desirable policy. A re-examination
of this matter has led me with many others to modified views upon the subject.
He proceeded to give a strong gold-standard argument, a defense of the
trust, tariff and the imperial annexations of 1898.^^
54 California Historical Society Quarterly
CATOR RETIRES FROM PARTISAN POLITICS
Following the disintegration of the party Cator sought no elective office.
He carried on his legal practice. In 1901 he was appointed to the elections
commission of the City of San Francisco and served till his death, most of
the time as the president of that commission. He represented the city in
many tilts involving legal aspects of the election laws. He made talks to
all kinds of groups in explanation of the initiative, referendum, direct pri-
mary and charter amendments. Populist assemblymen had sought in 1893
to enact measures prepared by Cator for direct legislation and direct pri-
mary. In 1 90 1 Cator drafted for a senate committee a direct primary law
which was passed with little change. This was broadened by later amend-
ments.
Mrs. Ethel Chapman Cator died in 1907. A year later, September 3, 1908,
Cator was married to her sister, Mrs. Edith V. Houghton. During the
later years of his life, Cator took a keen interest in the Swedenborgian
faith and regularly attended services of that church. The third week in
September 1920 he had been at work in the City Hall upon certain charter
amendments that were to appear upon the November ballot. He returned
home apparently in good health and died the next morning of heart failure
at sixty-nine years of age. He was survived by Mrs. Cator and by three
children by the first Mrs. Cator.
NOTES
24. Sam Leake, then assistant librarian, stated to the writer that McGowan was locked,
with his consent, in the belfry of the Catholic cathedral. Headquarters for White's
board of strategy was in Leake's office.
25. The charges of Bretz led to an investigation that wandered more or less aim-
lessly. Cator was counsel for Bretz, who was let off with two weeks suspension and a
reprimand.
26. Geary's Letters (in the possession of Judge Donald Geary of Santa Rosa) show
that the vote on repeal was the chief factor in his defeat in 1 894.
27. Practically all Republican papers in California were vehemently advocating free
silver. The Los Angeles Tijnes and the Tulare Register were conspicuous in their
support of the gold standard.
28. Proc. Calif. State Farmers^ Alliance and Industrial Union (Fresno, 1893), p. 9.
Cator and Dr. George Gillespie were urged by Paul Vandervoort, national commander,
to undertake the organization work in California.
29. San Francisco Call^ Feb. 25, 1894.
30. The meeting drew such a crowd that an overflow meeting was held in the street.
Examiner, July 7, 1894.
31. Geary Letters, from J. F. Thompson, manager of Eureka Standard, June 6, 1894,
32. Ibid., from R. H. Beamer, June 10, 1894. He was one of the very few Democrats
elected.
33. Budd's victory, in contrast with the defeat of the Democratic ticket as a whole,
was largely due to an indecent story that was circulated by the Republicans and which
boomeranged.
Thomas Vincent Cator 5 5
34. San Francisco Examiner, Aug. 21, 1895.
35. /Z'/i., Sept. 21, 1895.
36. Harold F. Taggart, "Party Realignment in California in 1896," in Pacific Historical
Review (Dec. 1939), ¥111,435-52.
37. Cator Letters, from Dr. C. H. Castle (Merced), candidate for congress from the
seventh district, June 27, 1896; from W. H. Gilstrap, June 24, and others.
38. White had an eye on the legislature of 1899, in the event that he became a
candidate for a second term.
39. San Francisco Star, Jan. 16, 1897. ^^ intimated that Cator was a railroad attorney,
closely associated with George W. Baker, head of the legal staff of the Southern Pacific
Railroad.
40. Harold F. Taggart, "The Silver Republican Club of Los Angeles," Quarterly of
the Historical Society of Southern California, XXV (Sept. 1943), 102-116. The Club
made all arrangements.
41. San Francisco Star, Dec. 4, 1897.
42. William Ayres in Western Watchman, quoted in Tulare Valley Citizen, Dec. 16,
1897.
43. Cator Letters, from C. A. Barlow, Jan. 4, 1898.
44. Ibid., from Wardall, Jan. 30, 1898.
45. Ibid., from Barlow, Mar. 9, 1898. Wardall poured out his anxiety in a letter of the
same date. Wardall prophesied on March 25 that the convention would be a "knock
down and drag out affair."
46. ExaTniner, ]u\y 12, 1898.
47. The meeting of the Silver Republicans was a stormy one; Baker resigned as
chairman and left immediately for San Francisco.
48. Cator Letters, from Barlow, Aug. 8, 1898.
49. An interesting incident in the campaign was the attack leveled at Maguire by
Father Peter Yorke of San Francisco in the last few days of the campaign. That a deal
had been made, tacitly or otherwise, is indicated by the appointment of Father Yorke
to the board of regents of the University of California by Governor Gage.
50. San Francisco Call, Dec. 29, 1898. "Thomas V. Cator writes the valedictory."
Documentary
S. C. Massett Esqre
Marysville
Dear Sir:
The bearer of the present Lord Calthrope has been very strongly recom-
mended to me by our Senator Gwin in Washington and I herewith take the
liberty of introducing him to you. Knowing your friendship for me I here-
with request you to assist this Gentleman and his friend Mr Coke in any way,
as both are going to visit the mines, and all kindness extended to them will
be regarded as done to myself.
In a few days I hope to see you in your place, in the meantime I remain
Yours most truly
T. T- , r , ^ 1 o [signed] J A Sutter [rubric]
Nicolaus febry 26th 1851. l jj l j
The visit with Stephen C. Massett ("Jeems Pipes of Pipesville") is referred to by Hon.
Henry J. Coke in his A Ride over the Rocky Mountains to Oregon and California . . .
(London: Richard Bentley, 1852), pp. 357, 378. On page 357, he says: "After spending
a pleasant evening with the editor of the 'Marysville Herald'— who, by the by happened
to be a genuine cockney, serving the city of Marysville in the several capacities of editor,
play-actor, concert-giver, and auctioneer— I started the next morning for the 'Forks of
the Yuba.' " Coke's book is dedicated to his brother, the Right Hon. The Earl of Leices-
ter. For a biographical note on Massett, see Earl Ramey, "The Beginnings of Marysville,"
this Quarterly, XIV (Dec. 1935), 387-89. Who Calthrope was, it is difficult to say. Coke
speaks (p. 362) of a friend named Fred, when staying in San Francisco at the El Dorado
Hotel; he refers to his companions at the outset of his journey simply by initials, such as
A and G (pp. 4, 37).
Original of the above letter is in the Templeton Crocker Collection, this Society.
56
Bound for the Land of Canaan, Ho!
The Diary of Levi Stouoell, 1849
Edited by Marco Thorne
(Concluded)
Sunday, October 7. fresh meat, took a stroll down the beach through
Happy & pleasant, vallies, over Rincon point, &c. in happy valley all kinds
of people lives, men women children, black & White, all in the sand together,
a conglomeration
Monday, October 8. that I do not much admire. Kennedy, Waters &
Joyce went out gunning yesterday, Kennedy shot a hawk, prepared &
cooked it [.] Tough Oh. heavens, recitations. Spouting, &c at night
Tuesday, October p. Foggy night, looks like Rain. Rained this morning
caught us without a roof, got wet, and several buildings in a bad fix[.]^-'^
O, ye in canvass houses, fly from thence or you'll get damp & no mistake,
Souther, heh
Wednesday , October 10. Steamer California in. Rained like the d— 1 this
day wind S.E. Steamer arrd this morning, so far so good, now the question
is, has she got the mail? She better have it or leave the harbour, for the
people are tired waiting.
Thursday , October 11. No Mail, again,^^^ well we will figure again &
probably find that the next Steamer is the proper one for our letters to
come in, Screw loose some where, should like to tighten it. think I'd make
a rivet of it—
Friday, October 12, 40 men at work this week, at the rate of $75.00 per
week each, well it's nothing when you get used to it a plenty of the "Oro"
is all's wanting, say 2. back loads a week, right smart.
Saturday, October 75. Very warm & pleasant, after the rain, worked
hard getting Lumber &c for various jobs[.] W.P.W. went to a Ball this eve'
Mr Brown & Brother here to dinner just in, left Washington in May.
a few more left only.—
Sunday, October 14. The Most lovely & beautiful day Since I've known
Francisco like a beautiful fall day at home[.] Made me nearly home-sick.
Walked over the hills, & about town, Jack & Bill went to goat-Island, but
no goats—
Monday, October / j. Very warm & pleasant, Mr Jackson from Washt
took dinner with us. all very busy, Mr Wilson rather better increased
improvements since the rain, no notion of being 6 feet under water, many
were tho.
Tuesday, October 16. Very warm still; pleasant evenings, rather too
warm to sleep, & the "fleas" very troublesome, loud & severe are the im-
57
5 8 California Historical Society Quarterly
prications, invoked upon them, we want a woman to brush 'em out. we
we'll have one soon or leave the country.
Wednesday, October ij. Mr Wilson getting on slowly, rumours that
the Washington, (Bruffs) party are at or near the Sacramento hope so
Thursday, October 1 8. Weather very warm & pleasant, all well and
busy. Since the rain, everybody is preparing for the next, and the buildings
are going up faster
Friday, October ip. than ever, one day, a puddle and next high ground,
next an house & thus as if by magic comes in to shape about 50. buildings
per week^^^
Saturday, October 20. At the present progress of improvements this will
soon become one of the greatest Cities in the world, 9. times 9. cheers for
San Francisco & all
Sunday, October 21. California at large, roved over the hills [.] All of
us viewed the Bay the Cities looked out upon the Pacific [.] Snuffed the sea
breeze, & then for home first to cook & then to eat a sumptuous dinner
Levi Stowell, toward the close of his first October in San Francisco, found himself
in the thick of an early California political campaign. Said Stowell's friend, Henry
Williams: "On . . . [October 23] the first show of politics was made in San Francisco,
the Whigs making a rally in favor of T. Butler King for U. S. Senator."i23 Although
large-lettered handbills called upon the citizens to participate in the rally, it failed to
attract a crowd, a fact which was attributed by the anti-Whig Aha California to the
lack of sympathy for the Whig cause and the prevalence of a damp fog.124 Owen P.
Sutton, a friend of Stowell's and at that time a Democrat, wrote later how he helped
to stop a campaign, initiated by King and his backers, to have no political-party contests
in California. Sutton, Geary, Voorhies, and Colonel Stevenson decided to call a mass-
meeting, in opposition to the King scheme, at Portsmouth Square where they proposed
to "organize a party." This, according to Sutton, marked the formation of the Democrat
party, Stowell's party in California, 125 ^^jj ^he meeting is mentioned by Stowell in
his entry of Oct. 25, the day it occurred. John Geary presided; William Van Voorhies
gave an address, and resolutions were adopted calling for a slate of Democrat candi-
dates. As a consequence of this and other Democrat mass-meetings, Stowell became one
of a committee to make the party's nominations for the new state-to-be of California.
His diary continues:
Monday, October 22. Politics begin to move the people. No partyism,
wont do here, democratic Men & measures, & nothing else will do for Cali-
fornia we'll soon set the Ball
Tuesday, October 25. in motion, & we will roll it over the rocky moun-
tains [.] So look out Atlantic democrats we're a coming, and we intend to
see ourselves righted in the state of Cal[iforni]a
Wednesday , October 2^. No Banks save the natural Banks, no monopo-
lies, No distribution of public lands & no Whiggery in thse far of [f] lands,
democracy dyed in the wool, only, will do here.
Thursday , October 25. democratic mass meeting at the Exchange, a
large and enthusiastic meeting, very much like old times, hip hurrah
Bound for the Land of Canaan, Ho!
59
Friday, October 26, Another mass meeting to be held tomorrow eve' &
nominations to be made. Comt Harris [J Denison [,] Randolph, Stowell,
Tracy [J Patterson, Wright [,] Scott & others^^^
Saturday, October 27. Steamer Senator arrd to day no mail as usual,^^^
dont expect any more 'till Christmas, hope we may get news by that time
as late as May or June
Sunday, October 28. Met a Committee this morning &c. a most enchant-
ing day as broke upon the world, went to the Methodist Church Bill &
Jack went out hunting & got a fine mess of birds
Monday, October 2 p. Election to day to elect a commt to make nomi-
nations. Considerable interest manifested, a few aspiring individuals having
created a split in the party at the last meeting, as they or their particular
friends were not nominated, & with the Comt to be elected by the sovereigns
and
Tuesday, October 50. now we'll see what the Sovereigns do. Mond [ay]
night 12. O'cl.k well the sovereigns have sustained the Old Comt by about
3 to I. S. Harris - E. Randolph [,] L. Stowell, Dennison, Tracy [,]
Wright [,] McGlenn, Patterson [,] E. V. Joyce, Scott [,] Geary, are the
Comt
Wednesday , October ^1. Weather fine & pleasant. Steamers Unicorn &
Panama arrd[.]^^^ Tomorrow night we report The nominations for Gov'
P.H. Burnett^^^ Lieut Gov' McDugaP^^ State Senate G.P. Post & T.H.
Green [;] 132 f^j. Assembly W.V. Voorhies [,] E. Randolph [,] J.H. Wat-
son [,V^^ J. A. Patterson^^* and myself, for Congress R.M. Price & Wright.
THE LAST TWO MONTHS OF 1849
In the preceding part of his diary Stowell described his trip to San Francisco, his
adventures in mining and his return to San Francisco after futile attempts to find
enough gold. He then told of his life as a carpenter and his interest in politics and
in Masonry. The diary continues:
Thursday, November i. Wrote to O.J. Preston.— The political world of
Calaf ', is in commotion. The democracy chalanges a combat, but, Noparty-
ism & other humbuggery is their plea, had a fine Meeting this eve' & the
nominations well recieved [;] good speaking by several [,] Voorhies,
Henley [,] Randolph &c. sent papers to Mary—
Friday, November 2. raining & unpleasant [.] ^^^ Mud, in any quantity &
water all around us, our dwelling is nearly ready. Anxious for our letters
provided we are so fortunate as to get any.
Saturday , November ^. A letter from brother. Got our letters & very
few they are[.] Two from O.J. Preston One from M.A.H. thankful for
small favours, only one Mail that is Aug. learn by my letters that, the letters
which contains all my orders & an acct of my mining excursion never have
reached their destination [;] a bad business indeed.
Sunday, November 4. Weather really delightful, Voorhies & myself
6o California Historical Society Quarterly
wandered over the Hills & expatiated on the beauties and natural advantages
of the City of San Francisco & then went to the Episcopal Church &c.—
Monday, November j. Rained all day early, and Mud without depth.
The democrats awake, stiring up the boys in ancient style. Stump Speeches
&c
Tuesday, November 6. Country Lumber, rainy disagreeable &c. got our
papers, a few. glad to get even a few, though not very late dates, probably
get them next mail Query— when'll that be.
Wednesday , November J. Mr Wilson poorly, indeed, a hard time in-
deed, has he. Weather rather pleasant, but suspicious, in hopes to have an
house to live in soon instead of a shop, leaky roof &c. &c. &c.
Thursday, November 8. I. Owen called on us this morning.^^^ glad to
see him being one of Bruff's party, the first authentic information of the
party, some of them in the Mines & Sacramento City others loo Miles
back & will probably be in in ten days, lost only one man viz Bishop^^^
Friday, November p. — heard of Dixon's death — Was truly gratified to
hear of them & that they had been so fortunate in getting thro' with so
little sickness &c. I. Owen leaves to day for Santa Cruz to see his brother,
John, had a social meeting of Masons in
Saturday, November lo. rain rain rain!!! — my new room preparatory
to opening Lodge on Thursday eve' next. Am anxious to get open & at work,
raining, & all took a hand at Sewing carpet for the Lodge room, hard work,
all got the back ache.
Sunday, November ii. Nailed down carpet & fixed the Lodge room &c
cleared oflF. hope it will remain so for awhile Yz Doz buildings to close in.
M. Wilson much better.
Monday, November 12. clear. Odd Fellows opened in our New Hall
this eve'^^^ a very good attendance initiated one. Election tomorrow, many
Schemes to work, splitting tickets trading candidates &c &c &c but look out
for "the Democrats"
Tuesday, November 75. rainy. Turned out early pedling tickets &c,
wading through mud knee deep, bring up the boys, rather an expensive day
with me. M. Wilson rode to the polls & voted, he is much better [.] with all
their cheating I think we'll beat 'em badly.
Wednesday , November i^. Democratic Triumph! the whole democratic
ticket in this district elected.^^^ Glory enough for this election; the country
democratic, so may she ever be, as I believe she will.
Levi Stowell, an enthusiastic Mason, realized one of his ambitions when California
Lodge No. 13, of which he had been given the charter before he left Washington, D. C,
was organized. A notice in the Alta California on October 4, 1849 announced that:
"...books for subscription to a joint stock company for the purpose of erecting a
building to be occupied as a Lodge Room are now open " The notice was signed
by five men including Stowell, R. M. Price, Charles Gilman and Col. J. D. Stevenson.^**^
There is some confusion among writers on California Masonry as to the date of formal
Bound for the Land of Canaa?i, Ho! 6 1
organization, two sources giving it as October 17, 1849,1*1 and one placing it on Thurs-
day, November 17th of the same year— a confusion of the day and date.i*^ As was seen
in Stowell's entry of July 30, there had been a meeting of Master Masons during the
previous summer to organize a lodge.
The meeting of November 15, held in the lodge room of which Stowell writes (the
attic of H. F. Williams' building on Montgomery Street), marked the formal organiza-
tion of California Lodge No. 13.1*3 The monthly rent on the room was $250. The room
was low at the sides and members had to move toward the middle when they arose,
so as not to strike the roof timbers. Furniture consisted of three chairs, pine boxes and
benches. There were 37 visiting members coming from 18 states, England, Nova
Scotia and Canada.^** Although Stowell claims that this was actually California's first
lodge, other evidence does not bear him out.i*^ His diary continues:
Thursday, November I ^. Opened California Lodge No. 13. this eve-
ning, a large attendance, though the going was very bad. a good meeting.
The first Masonic Lodge in California. Met in our new hall, fitted it up
myself.
Friday J November 16. Got a very bad cold the first since I left home,
rainy and extremely disagreeable, in a leaky shanty yet. L. Stowell R[ight].
W[orshipful]. M [aster]. Wm V. VoorhiesS[enior].W[arden]. D.G.Day
J[unior]. W[arden]. Pr[o] t[empore] other chairs filled Protem'^*^
Saturday, November 77. rather more pleasant, all nearly sick with colds,
for want of a decent place to live in. no time to build for ourselves, of
course, a shanty will do for us
Sunday, November 18. a pleasant day, H.F.W. & D.G.D. walked out be-
yond the Mission over the sand hills &c. W.P.W. sick & myself not much
better. M Wilson still gaining. Election news thus far Democratic, alto-
gether.
Monday, November ip. Miserable weather, but have to be out, got cold
all over me [;] bones ache all over me. streets about 3. ft deep with mud.
perfectly ridiculous, that no improvements are made [.] where are the city
council.
Tuesday, November 20. pulled up stakes & mooved to our new house,
all nearly sick I've been out in the rain & mud ten days and will now go to
bed and stay ten more to pay for it I expect, ah!
Wednesday, November 21. Had to go to bed, & take a sweat, & some
other things more unpleasant, great heavens anything but being sick away
from home, no one to wait on you or make anything to eat or drink
Thursday, November 22. but must get used to it I suppose, as well as
other things not very pleasant in these diggins sick as death, from my medi-
cine, my own physician^*^ rather skillful to, no mistake but the idea of
sending for "stuff"
Friday, November 2^. yourself to take that'll make you gag at the
thoughts of.— a very kind Neighbor Mrs D. sends me everything nice or
I should die for want of alittle something
Saturday, November 24. to eat, a woman is rather convenient in such
6i California Historical Society Quarterly
cases, dont do to be sick, keeping bachelor's Hall [.] Well, I dont think
I'm much sick only got a d— 1 of a cold
Sunday, November 25. Sunday, all day, should like to go to Church but
reckon I've got a good Excuse, got a few Balt[im]o[re] papers, looks like
hom to see "the [Baltimore] Sun" but it
Monday, November 26. seldom shines here, O', for a pouring down of
its light in California, for we have none here worth anything at all
Tuesday, November 27. Cold nights & pleasant days. "So mote it be"
Should like to get out but my throat is rather too sore yet & Im about as
strong as a sick kitten.
Wednesday , November 28. Expect all our folk are fixing for thanksgiv-
ing or dont they heed the proclamation of California [.] ought too, they
tak rather particular notice of her otherwise, anniversity of our departure
5. a.m—
Thursday , November 2^. Thanksgiving day. well where is the turkies,
pies, & "chicken fixings" no difference for Im sick as a fool & cant eat.
What the d— 1 are they all doing at home I, wonder
Friday, November 50. Guess I'de Like a peice of them pumpkin pies &
a rib of that pig, but then I'm fast forgetting all my old habits and am learn-
ing to live temperately in all things, women too"—
Saturday, December i. anniversary of our Leaving N.Y. Steamer Ore-
gon in at last, just as the Unicom is going out [.] might as well waited
another month. Three mails aboard of her, hope some of it is for me. Mr
King also Mr Burch arrived from the D.C.
Sunday, December 2. King called to see me. left me letters, from O.J.P.
also for the other boys, me a book from O.J.P. & a package from The
Grand Secty Fraily, all truly acceptable, help pass my sick hours off.— ^^^
Monday, De cember ^. Cold and rainy, miserable day. Anxious to see
Mr K ... on a private matter. Sent by the Steamer for J.H. Nevit 100 oz
of gold dust, by Adams & Co;^*^ Express, insured &c. to his wife at Wash-
ington
Tuesday, December ^. Alittle more pleasant feel alittle better myself [.]
want to get out mightily but its no use. cant come it. hold on to the bed
reckon I shall be ill prepared to leave for the
Wednesday, December 5. Legislature next week [.] must go at all haz-
zards [.] Calculate to get out on tomorrow. Henry is flat of his back, & I'll
have to get well to take care of him
Thursday, December 6. pleasant, Henry quite sick, feel very well today
myself, no strength yet. flatter myself to be a first rate physician & it looks
now as if I am
Friday, December 7. pleasant [.] to have a right smart practice, Henry
& Waters both sick going out to day Must go to the Lodge to night sure
& open &c for there is no one to do it.
Bound for the Land of Canaan, Ho! 63
Saturday, December 8. Mornings cold & days very pleasant, had a good
meeting last night & done some work.^^*^ done me no harm I believe in going
out
Sunday, December p. Sunday again & very pleasant. I have had to write
day & night since I got up in order to get off this week to Pueblo (The
Capital) [San Jose] &c
Monday, December 10. run about Town to day considerable. Henry is
improving. I hardly knew the town, so many improvements in two weeks,
great people these Calif ornians. Well they are!
Tuesday , December 11. Stormy, trying to get ready to be off in the
morning, but doubtful Jack being sick, there is no one now but myself [.]
all sick, one at a time would be more convenient & would last longer.
Wednesday , December 12. All to unwell for me to leave, finances to be
attended to. Henry is better & I'll be off, barring accidents; in a day or two.
Must get to the Capital or I shall loose
Thursday, December i^. all the log-rolling operations if Im not on hand,
wire- working is understood here to perfection, California as it is. Old heads
about. Land Titles in the distance looming up big.^^^ Off in the morning
Friday, December 14. Started for Pueblo on the Mint 7 by 9. Stormy,
got out 15. Miles and a severe storm met us, and the bravest hearts quailed,^^^
all was given up for lost, the Storms of the ocean had no terrors for me &
now to be drowned was not fair, in this little Bay, but providence inte-
vened and
Satur day, December I ^. the valuable cargo was safely moored at the
Wharf, a load of members was on board — Off again this Morning on the
Sacramento, anchored over night stormy [;] got acquainted with Mrs
Kerving a beautiful and interesting lady, daughter of Dr. White St. Louis
Sunday , December 16. This morning going up the Guadaloupa to the
embarcadero. So crooked that its waters are always riled, got into waggons
and got to Pueblo San Jose at 3. O'Clock [.] Town full of Office-seekers
and wire- workers. Opposition against
Monday, December ij. Voorhies as Secty of State, but Van is the man
or, we'll brake some thing trying. Unpleasant fix to be a Member of the
Legislature, for this political intriguing is perfectly disgusting to me. I keep
them off of me [.] Legislature organized to day [,] both Houses & elected
officers.—
The legislature was to meet in an adobe, 60' x 40', and two stories high (with a piazza
on the second floor), built at the expense of the town of San Jose. Only the second
story, used by the assembly, was finished, however, and the senate had to meet at the
home of Isaac Branham on the southwest corner of the plaza. The members boarded
at private homes, paying for the privilege. As no provision had been made for running
expenses, even ordinary stationery was lacking.i53/54
Tuesday, December 18. Speaker Dr. [Thomas J.] White of St Louis [;]
Clerk [E.H.] Tharp
64 California Historical Society Quarterly
Wednesday, December 19. Met & done but little, adj'd 'till 3. O.Clock.
Officers of the Senate McDugal Pre[siden]t
Thursday, December 20. Inaugurated the Gov. & Elected Senators J.C.
Fremont & W.M. Gwinn.^^^ great interest manifested in the elections. Op-
position to "Van"; oppose and be d-m-d cant hurt, its all right— bet on
that.^^^
[There were no entries for December 21st or zzd.]
Sunday, December 25. Pleasant again. Called on Mrs. Kerwing & on the
Gov' [.] Members of the 3rd house are leaving to day, very glad, hope to
have some place to slep now except on the floor, under a cot, and bad living
all for 1 3 5. a week quite moderate
Monday, December 24. Great excitement in regard to mooving the
Capital, Many very f eirce for it, I'm down on that, for we cant better our-
selves. Adjourned till next Friday for Christmas, O, for
Tuesday , December 2$. a Christmas at home in Old Balto or thereabouts,
no ale here, van'. Judge Lyons & myself took a long walk in the morn' over
the plains lovely day— dull Christmas, but preferable to spending it on the
Caribbean sea as last Christmas
Wednesday , December 26. Walked & set about most of the day. Van,
and I walked over the plain &c, think I'll go to San Francisco tomorrow &
see the Boys, & how they get on &c
Thursday , December 27. Anniversary of our arrival at Chagres. Off
early in the Stage for the Steamer, arrived in time to attend the Lodge [.]
call'd a meeting tomorrow for Electing officers, got up home at 10. 0,Clock
Friday , December 2S. All over town getting some little matters, fixed
and get back to Pueblo. Lodge met & Elected her Officers L [evi] . S [tow-
ell]. R.W.M. Barton S.W, Col' Geary J.W. Gihon Secty Selover^"
Treas — Steamer Cal' in
Saturday, December 2^. Off for the Steamer just in time to be too late
so I'll wait for the Searg' at arms to come for all hands, for I reckon there
is a quorum here
Sunday , December ^o. Wrote Letters to, O.J.P. Sister, Rebecca R.F.
S.M.W. — got Letters, from O.J.P. Sister Rebecca A. — got a paper an-
nouncing the death of F.S.M, Willoughby, astounding, cannot realize it at
all. drew my
Monday, December 57. letter from Dr. Gwinn to F.S.M.W[illoughby].
gave our letters to Hon Dr. Gwinn all off on board this eve. a precious load
by this Steamer. Senators [,] Representatives, T.B. King &c [.] N. Years
eve' what is going on at home Query— And now the year hath passed;
sitting at my desk at San Francisco with all the boys around. Day, Ardilla,^^^
Kennedy, Wilson &c. Waters & Kennedy gone for some cider & cakes to
have N Years eve &c
Bound for the Land of Canaan, Ho! 6s
LEVI STOWELL AFTER 1849
After 1 849, Stowell and Williams were associated in a building business.
Kimball's San Francisco Directory (September 1850) mentioned "Stowell,
Williams & Co." on Montgomery between Jackson and Washington
streets. ^^^ Stowell was listed as a merchant in 1852 by the California
Census.^^^ J. Goldsborough BrufT, one of the petitioners in Washington
who asked for a charter for California Lodge No. 13, wrote in his diary
on March 7, 1851, in San Francisco, that he "Called to see Stowell and
Preston . . ."^^^
Stowell also continued to invest in San Jose property, buying, with
Williams, Waters and Joyce, a 50-vara lot for $4,500 in March of 1850;^^^
and in 1854 he bought some land in San Jose from Williams that the latter
had purchased in 1852.^^^
After his experiences in the first California legislature, Stowell returned
to activity in the Masonic Order.^^* He attended the first convention of the
Grand Lodge of California at Sacramento in April and May of 1850,^^^
where he became grand treasurer for the state lodge; and in May 185 1, he
was made grand secretary for California, an office which he held until his
death.^^^ He added to his fraternal activities by joining the Society of Cali-
fornia Pioneers on January 7, 1854.^®^ May i, 1855, ^^ attended the meeting
of the Grand Lodge of California in San Francisco.^^®
Three weeks later. May 18, 1855, Levi Stowell died in San Francisco.^®^
The next day notices were given by seven San Francisco lodges and by the
Grand Lodge of California to their various members to meet on May 20
for Stowell's funeral.^^^
The morning of the funeral many members of the Masons met at noon
in the Masonic lodge at Washington and Kearny streets in San Francisco,
whence Stowell's remains were taken to the Vallejo Street wharf and put
on board a steamer for San Jose, a small delegation of Masons escorting the
body to San Jose.^^^
On arrival at San Jose, the coffin was taken to the San Jose Masonic Hall.
The next day a large procession of Masons and others accompanied the
hearse, in the largest funeral procession ever known in San Jose up to that
time.^''^
NOTES
120. "We were all caught terribly; we hadn't any idea there would be rain so soon,
having been given to understand it would not begin till December." Williams, op. cit.,
pp. 11-12.
121. "Steamer Gala arrived brot no U S Mail, a private mail bro't 2000 letters," said
Lyman on October loth. Teggart, op. cit., p. 300. The arrival without mail ". . . occa-
sioned terrible disappointment among the people." Williams, op. cit., p. 12. The Alta
California of Oct. 11, 1849, put the passenger list at 399, ". . . but NO MAIL!"
122. The rains gave an impetus to the raising of new buildings, using wood instead
66 California Historical Society Quarterly
of cloth for roofs. At this time carpenters were getting $12 to $16 a day and anyone
able to use a saw got at least $12 a day. Teggart, op. cit., p. 300; J. H. Stearns, "State-
ment.. ." in "Miscellaneous Statements on Cahfomia History" (MS in B. L.), p. 17.
Williams said that on October 8 he started the first brick building ever erected in San
Francisco, measuring 20 by 45 feet, and three stories high. Williams, op. cit., p. 11.
123. Ibid., p. 12. 124. S. F. Alta California, Oct. 25, 1849, p. 2:1.
125. Sutton, op. cit., p. g.
126. Williams, he. cit.; Alta California, Nov. i, 1849; Van Voorhies' address is printed
in Winfield J. Davis, History of Political Conventions in California, 1849-1892 (Sacra-
mento, 1893), PP- i~3-
127. The committee consisted of Stephen Harris, E. V. Joyce, Henry S. [F?] Wil-
liams, Samuel Dennison, Charles E. Scott, Levi Stowell, John A. Patterson, Edmund
Randolph, John A. McGlynn, Capt. F. Wright and F. P. Tracy. Alta California, Nov. i,
1849. A mass meeting was held again on October 27, at which time the committee was
contested and it was decided to elect a nominating committee instead of having one
appointed by the chairman of the meeting of October 25. The election was held at
Dennison's Exchange.
128. The Senator was a new boat ". . . of great power and accommodation, built for
the Boston and Halifax trade " Kelly, op. cit., p. 174. Knower wrote that it had been
a Long Island steamer at one time. Knower, op. cit., p. 78. As the Senator came into
the harbor ". . . she ran hard and fast ashore in the mud at the present corner of
California and Battery Streets, but was floated off uninjured at the next flood tide."
Andrew S. Church, "Memoirs...,'^ Quarterly, Soc. Calif. Pioneers, III (1926), 155.
H. F. Williams later wrote that, "She [the Senator] was the most noted Steamer we
ever had on this coast and . . . probably earned more money than any boat afloat."
Williams, loc. cit.
129. "Unicorn Steamer in but no mail. Great indignation in town. PM 5 Ock. Steamer
Panama in, brot the mails down to Sept. 16. Great rejoicing," wrote Lyman on October
31st. Teggart, op. cit., p. 301.
130. Peter H. Burnett was born in Nashville, Tenn., on Nov. 15, 1807. He came to
Oregon territory in Oct. 1843 and moved to California in Sept. 1848 to dig gold. On
March 23, 1849, he came to San Francisco. P. H. Burnett, Recollections and Opinions . . .
(New York, 1880), passim.
131. John McDougall, a veteran of the Mexican War, came from Indiana. He boarded
the Falcon at New Orleans on Dec. 18, 1848, and arrived in San Francisco in Feb. 1849
on the California. He was a delegate of Sacramento to the constitutional convention
at Monterey. After the convention, an informal caucus was held for state officers. As no
one else wanted the position of lieutenant governor, McDougall sat back in a chair
and with a half-yawn said, "I reckon I'll take that— I don't believe anybody else will
want it." First SS Pioneers, pp. 242-43; Willey, op. cit., p. 16; W. H. Davis, Sixty Years
in California . . . (San Francisco, 1889), p. 331.
132. Talbot H. Green's real name was Paul B. Geddes. In 1850 he was found to have
deserted a wife and family in Pennsylvania, from whence he had fled after defrauding
a bank in his native town in Pennsylvania. He was recognized by a woman in San Fran-
cisco who had known him at home. In the fall of 1849 he had married the widow of
a Mr. Montgomery in San Francisco. White, op. cit., pp. 125-29. W. H. Davis, Sixty
Years in California (San Francisco, 1889), p. 325, said a man named Hepburn recognized
Green as Geddes.
133. John H. Watson, who was in California by 1831, gave his name to the town of
Watsonville and was a judge in Santa Cruz County. E. S. Harrison, History of Santa
Cruz County, California (San Francisco, 1892), p. 71. Davis, op. cit., p. 2.
Bound for the Land of Canaan, Ho! 6j
134. J. A. Patterson was in Company D of the New York Volunteers and mustered
out after the war was ended. He had also been connected with the "Hounds" organi-
zation. Clark, op. cit., p. 34; Bancroft, Popular Tribunals (San Francisco, 1887), I, 92.
135. "Cloudy com[menced] raining at 6 P.M. but stoped at 10 P.M." E. Morrison
Woodward, "The Original Manuscript Diary of a California Gold-Seeker of Forty-
nine . . ." (MS in B. L.), n. p. (entry of Nov. 2, 1849).
136. Isaac E. Owen was 19 years old when he left with Bruff's party for California.
Naf I Intelligencer, Apr. 2, 1849.
137. Charles Bishop, age 25, of Washington, D. C. Naf I Intelligencer, Apr. 2, 1849.
Bishop died on July 8, 1849, of cholera, the first death in the Bruff party. As a Mexican
War veteran, he was given a military funeral on the banks of the Platte River where
he had died. Read and Gaines, editors, op. cit., I, 33-34, 1 17-18.
138. The Independent Order of Odd Fellows had its beginnings in San Francisco in
Dec. 1847, but with the discovery of gold the organization was allowed to lapse. The
first permanent lodge in California that was regularly constituted was Cahfomia Lodge
No. I, which first met on Sept. 9, 1849, and was organized by some Philadelphia men
under a dispensation of Jan. 12, 1849. Anonymous, Fifty Years of Odd Fellowship in
California . . . (San Francisco, 1899), p. 29; Soule et al, op. cit., p. 712
139. The election made Peter Burnett governor and John McDougall lieutenant
governor. Van Voorhies and Stowell were among the five men elected in San Francisco
to the California assembly, Van Voorhies receiving 1870 votes and Stowell, the fifth
highest, 1794. Ten men ran for the assembly in San Francisco. Buffum, op. cit., p. 119;
Aha California, Nov. 15, 1849.
140. Ibid., Oct. 4, 1849.
141. California Masonry, I, 48; J. Whicher, "Freemasonry in California," in D.
Wright, ed., Gould's History of Freemasonry Throughout the World (New York,
1936), V, ^6.
142. E. Sherman, op. cit., I, i>,6. 143. California Masonry, loc. cit.
144. Ibid., I, 54; E. Sherman, loc. cit.; Williams, op. cit., p. 13; Soule et al, op. cit.y
p. 710; Whicher, loc. cit.
145. Whicher, op. cit., V, 53-56.
146. Besides the officers mentioned by Stowell, there were Robert A. Parker, trea-
surer, and John Geary, secretary. Stowell and William Van Voorhies were the only
charter members present. The other members and officers had yet to affiliate formally
with the California lodge. E. Sherman, op. cit., I, 56-57; Soule et al, loc. cit,
147. Dr. S. R. Geary's experiences give an idea of medical costs. After coming to
San Francisco in March 1849 and locating in the Parker House, the doctor charged a
half ounce of gold ($8.00) for an office visit and medicine, or a full ounce for a visit
out. His business was on a strictly cash basis. He made as much as $150 to even $500
a day, and during the year made about $40,000. Geary, op. cit., pp. i, 4.
148. A package was sent to Stowell on Oct. 6, 1849, by the grand secretary of the
Grand Lodge of the District of Columbia. The parcel included printed proceedings
of the Grand Lodge and a letter of greetings. "Minutes of the . . . Grand Lodge of
District of Columbia, November 6, 1849," in California Masonry, I, 50.
149. Adams & Co., an eastern express firm, opened a branch in San Francisco in
Nov. 1849. Service was extended to the principal cities on the Atlantic seaboard and
to other adjacent places. Oscar O. Winther, Express and Stagecoach days in Califor-
nia... (Stanford University, 1936), pp. 44-45; Wiltsee, op. cit., p. 59.
150. At the Masonic meeting of Dec. 7 Henry WiUiams made application for mem-
bership in the order. WiHiams, op. cit., p. 13; E. Sherman, op. cit., I, 57.
151. The alcaldes of San Francisco made informal grants of land to anyone who put
[
68 California Historical Society Quarterly
up a shack or even a section of a building in the city. However, this condition was not
always obeyed, except around the plaza. The grants were given with the understanding
that they were not valid until confirmed by subsequent territorial legislation. Grants
had also been given by the prefect of the city and at auctions sponsored by the town
council. Because of their informality and the value of property, there was much con-
flict, and the first California legislature was looked to, to settle the validity of the
grants. Williams, op. cit., p. 6; Alfred A. Green, "Life and Advenures of a 47er of
California," (MS in B. L.), pp. 24-25.
152. The Mint, made of iron, was about 50 feet long and had a capacity of around
70 passengers. Alta California, Sept. 27, 1849. Warren saw the legislators board the Mint
and watched it as it went down the bay and ". . . battled with a furious gale, making
such bad weather of it, that for a long while it seemed doubtful whether or not she
would not founder with all her precious freight.''^ T. R. Warren, Dust and Foam . . .
(New York, 1859), p. 141.
153. B. Taylor, op. cit., p. 199. Oscar Winther, The Story of San Jose, California's
First Pueblo, 1^^^-1869 (San Francisco, 1935), p. 28.
154. Ibid., p. 28; Crosby, "Statement," pp. 59, 62.
155. Peter Burnett was inaugurated as governor at one P.M. that afternoon. Burnett,
op. cit., p. 349. John C. Fremont was elected on the first ballot by the two houses in
joint meeting. William Gwin was elected on the fourth ballot. Stowell voted for
Fremont on the first ballot and for Gwin on the other three ballots. Journals of the
California Legislature, ist sess., 1850, pp. 23-25.
156. Van Voorhies was nominated by Burnett for secretary of state, and the nomina-
tion was confirmed by the senate on Dec. 21, 1849. Ibid., p. 27.
157. A. Bartol of Columbus, Ohio, who was senior warden. Soule et al, op. cit., p. 710;
E. Sherman, op. cit., I, $6. John H. Gihon was from Philadelphia, and A. A. Selover was
from New York. Soule et al, loc. cit.
158. L. A. lardella was a member of Bruff's party. NatH Intelligencer, March 30, 1849.
159. Charles P. Kimball, The San Francisco City Directory (San Francisco, 1850),
p. 106.
160. "California Census of 1852. Copies under the Direction of the ... Daughters of
the American Revolution of California," Typed transcript, VI, $6.
161. Read and Gaines, editors, op. cit., II, 958.
162. Deeds, Santa Clara County, Vol. A, 35. 163. Ibid., Vol. H, 261.
164. E. Sherman, op. cit., I, 67. 165. Ibid., I, 83.
166. Ibid., I, 88; Soule et al, op. cit., p. 71 1.
167. H. P. Van Sicklen, secretary, Soc. Cahf. Pioneers, to this writer, Apr. 15, 1940.
168. San Francisco Daily Herald, May 3, 1855.
169. San Francisco Daily Chronicle, May 19, 1855. 170. Ibid., May 19, 1855.
171. Daily Herald, May 20, 1855.
172. San Jose Telegraph and Santa Clara County Register, May 24, 1855; San Jose
Semi -Weekly Tribune, May 22, 1855.
The Second Incumbency of
Jacques A. Moerenhout
Translated and Edited
By A. P. Nasatir
(Continued)
XIX (Concluded)
But the most dangerous enemies to Calif ornian society were not so much
these common evil doers, organized in bands easy to destroy sooner or later,
as the army of politicians, lawyers, seekers of employment, together with
all their following of gamblers, "hoofers" [loafers?] "shoulder strikers,"
etc., etc., people who were very sly, cunning, and corrupt. They knew that
in this country there were, for them, some mines richer than those of the
placers and they wanted to exploit them. This sort of emigration was the
black cloud which then presented itself on the Californian horizon. Their
object was to obtain and to occupy all the places and public offices which,
more than salaries, promised them a thousand other resources and means of
enriching themselves.
But without following them in the path of their iniquities, without enu-
merating at length all their disloyal conduct, manoeuvers, to which they
have taken recourse in order to assure the triumph of their projects, I must
only remark that, being opposed to the establishment of the territorial gov-
ernment proclaimed by the military government of April 1 8, 1 849, they led
California to declare itself a sovereign and independent state.
Delegates from the entire country assembled at Monterey on the first of
September to draw up, formulate and discuss a constitution.^^ Nothing was
more regrettable for this country than the above mentioned step. The Amer-
ican journals of the time were ready to welcome it as a bold step motivated
by the patriotism of an enlightened and enterprising people. The whole
thing was only the act of some influential men and some groups of whom
I have spoken above. This event, which was almost a revolution and in-
stantly changed the whole turn of affairs, was only the work of a spirit of
intrigue and speculation.
On October 13, 1849, the constitution was adopted and signed. The evils
and disorders of California date from that day. Despite everything running
by chance under the administration of a military government which had no
soldiers; with alcaldes as the only judicial and civil authority, they would
have had only a few disorders and crimes. The admission of the new order
of things, on the contrary, almost immediately inaugurated such an era of
anarchy and crimes that the histories of other countries have few pages
69
70 California Historical Society Quarterly
which could parallel those which we have been in the process of writing so
mournfully for the past several years.
The electoral question immediately opened an immense arena to all am-
bitions, to all the slyness of these vicious and corrupt men. Weary of the
work at the mines, the elections promised them a surer and greater produc-
tion of wealth and more easily acquired.
In the place of the simple alcaldes, they must proceed to the nomination
of a governor, a lieutenant governor-secretary of state, senators and repre-
sentatives to Congress, members of the legislature, judges of the Supreme
Court, of the district courts, attorneys, recorders, ordinary judges of the
town and counties, inspectors, tax-collectors, treasurers, aldermen, munici-
pal councilors, etc.; all important and lucrative positions because of their
enormous salaries, and especially profitable because of the particular advan-
tages and the facility which they offered then, and still do today, to expand
the revenue.
Such was the object of the general preoccupation of these men. Everyone
knew only that it was very easy for the titulaires to raise their salaries a hun-
dred fold. Likewise, to achieve his purpose, the candidate would not shrink
before any method. Their principal support was among this class of evil-
doers, who would be disowned by the least scrupulous society, among the
gamblers, the "ballot box stuffers," the vote forgers, the "shoulder strikers"
—these boxers, feared in New York, but who, as I have said before, were
changed in Texas and here [into] revolver and dagger carriers or assassins.
It was from this impure source that from 1850 to 1855 came forth all the
elected persons of the people, officials to render justice or to administer the
finances of the state.
Your Excellency already knows what the consequences of a similar or-
ganization have been. You know that despite the progressive amplification
of the taxes each year and the increase of the taxable property, which in 1 853
amounted to a hundred million piastres,^^ the state, towns, and counties are
so constantly in debt that in that same year of 1853 the obligations of the
state as well as those of San Francisco attained the enormous and unexplain-
able figure of several millions of piastres.'^^
What likewise demands the attention of all intelligent men is the long in-
difference or the patience of the American people in all these circumstances,
and the audacity with which these peculiar officials, sheltered and protected
by a certain group of contemptible men who in their turn were protected
by the courts and the authorities, committed thefts, frauds and the most
enormous embezzlements.'^^
Another strange fact is the promptness with which corruption spread in
all the administrations and in all the bodies, not excepting the legislature and
the tribunals. From thence came the promulgation of ridiculous laws, the
application of which had always been impossible or had only one object—
Second Incumbency of J. A, Moerenhout 7 1
speculation. It explains the arbitrary judgments which were flagrant viola-
tions of justice and equity, as well as the impunity of certain averred guilty
persons, whose connections with the mentioned classes or their fortunes
placed them under protection, from justice and from all punishment.*
It is certainly not astonishing that the constant application of such a system
has encouraged thefts, murders, and assassinations, which have made each
page of the history of California a desolate picture [tableau]. This era of
crime has existed for five years, and probably would still have continued,
had not the assassination on the street in broad dayhght of James King of
William," editor of "The Evening Bulletin" and the first and only pro-
moter of social and patriotic reform, suddenly awakened the people, shook
the still healthy part of the Calif ornian society almost to their intimate foun-
dations, and provoked the organization of the Vigilance Committee, to
which the majority of the inhabitants of the town of San Francisco and of
the entire country have confided the cares of safeguarding their wealth,
their rights, their privileges, and their existence. The principal character of
this revolution is the spontaneity with which all the honest population has
arisen against this band of oppressors, so long in power, and their infamous
associates.
But one other question naturally arises at this time. What is the legality of
this government and has it one? What will be its duration and what will be
its moral and material influence upon the American people in this country?
Without daring to be able to solve such difficult questions, I will neverthe-
less call your attention to the fact that up to the present time the conduct of
this commitee has been remarkable for the calmness, orderliness, and firmness
which have dictated all its measures; that it has punished only the guilty and
pursued only those men whose conduct has been so scandalous and so in-
famous that they inspire neither pity nor sympathy and whom even their
own party does not dare to defend openly. Since this committee exists, it is
regrettable that the center of its action is so circumscribed that outside of
*[Moerenhout's note]. In the States such abuses must have a very much longer dura-
tion than anywhere else, especially in the newly acquired countries where the principal
taxpayers, or those who are truly wronged, are the natives. The American government is
not a protective government, and in imitation of the government no one is, or poses as
such, not even parents with their children as soon as they are old enough to do without
them. Hence this revolting egotism and the general indifference of the authorities and
of the American people to the bad treatment [les maux] of the Indians as well as to the
spoliations, thefts, and plunderings which they do not cease to commit among the people
of the Spanish race in the provinces acquired from Mexico. That is also the cause for the
indifference to abuses in their own country, when they are only partial or weigh only
upon certain classes. But as among them each one must and does know how to defend
himself and to maintain the rights and redress the wrongs which he suffers, so the masses
as soon as the abuses become general and weigh upon all, know how to put order there,
uphold their rights, and punish the guilty.
7 2 California Historical Society Quarterly
this center it can exercise only a moral influence; that the exercise of its
power can only be momentary; and finally that they have to fear the out-
burst of a reactionary or of some private vengeance which will equally ex-
pose this country to a new series of evil deeds.
There are other consequences, the probability of which I cannot easily
believe; such as the armed intervention of the federal authorities," or the
arraignment, by the committee, of the highest officials, which might result
in a conflict. But even there the present crisis will probably have for a result
only a series of private hostilities such as took place in Texas between the
parties of regulators and moderators: lamentable disorders, but which
would stop the progress of these new countries only momentarily. But the
foreign residents must never mix in these disorders, for it is certain that
sooner or later they will be blamed by the two antagonistic parties.
In any case, these disorders have nothing de bien menacing either for this
country or for the future of the Union for a long time. As the Americans are
and will be preoccupied, although they do not confess it, with the danger
of a war with England or with other maritime powers of Europe, these local
and momentary agitations especially for the new states such as Texas and
California are in a way only crises, if not necessary at least inevitable for all
these nascent societies of Americans, composed and organized in the begin-
ning, as has been described.
The only serious question which will always be on the horizon of the
future of the United States and which, even here, will perhaps be agitated
some day, is the question of slavery.^* The only obstacle which really stops
the moral development of the American society is the large number of un-
employed, who, entering in this way, have nothing, do not get out any more,
and increase in number with each change of administration. The only truly
detrimental thing undermining this society more and more is the corruption
which affects with impunity these same men who spend their entire lives in
upholding or fighting certain administrations, concerned periodically with
elections, living in a disorderly [extravagant] manner, and, in order to serve
themselves, encourage all that is most vile and most despicable in all stations
and in all classes of the population.
Sooner or later this great country, in the midst of which I [have] lived
for a long time, which I have visited in its various parts, and of the progress
of which I believe I have given a correct idea, will inevitably find itself the
prey of crises and of considerable revolutions. But I believe that the fer-
mentation which has hardly begun between the different elements of this
immense empire and in which only a very small part of the people have
taken part until now, will only lead to a dreadful explosion very much later.
Then the American nation, much more numerous, will feel itself compact
enough, strong enough, to speak loudly to anyone and to be able to defy
certain nations of Europe. The American people appear all the more re-
Secoiid Incumbency of J. A. Moerenhout 73
moved from great political convulsions, for, the question of slavery ex-
cepted, there never has existed as yet sufficient cause for general discontent;
and the people, always occupied with private interests and not knowing yet
the poignant sufferings of misery, have neither interest nor leisure to make
great revolutions.
I am ending this letter, already so long, here, with a last remark in regard
to the moral revolution which has just been operating in San Francisco.
The reforming party or committee seems to be composed, with the excep-
tion of foreigners, almost exclusively of Northern men, and includes a very
large number of ''Know Nothings^^"^ and black republicans. It is there [in its
number] that it is dangerous, for these men, generally very exalted and very
stubborn, would if they could carry it to an excess and in preference of
party.
The party of "law and order,"^^ on the contrary, is composed almost en-
tirely of men from the South and from New York; all the men in office and
many lawyers. This party also numbers [includes] the loafers, "ballot stufT-
ers," "shoulder strikers," gamblers, termes, which, as I have had the honor
of saying, are equally expressed by political parasites, swindlers, knights of
industry, boxers, people with revolvers and daggers, murderers and assassins.
These [are the] people who are employed in the elections to falsify the votes,
to intimidate, chase, or maltreat the voters of the opposing parties, and which
the committee pursues and wishes to expel from the country. These classes
are composed almost entirely of Irish or former residents of New York, New
Orleans, or Texas.
Accept the homage of respect with which I have the honor of being.
Monsieur le Ministre,
Your Excellency's very humble and very obedient servant.
Addressed: J- ^' Moerenhout
A Son Excellence Consul of France
Monsieur le Ministre des Affaires Etrangeres a Paris
Moerenhout to Minister of Foreign Affairs
Monsieur le Ministre: Monterey,^« July 30, 1 856
Your Excellency could not have completely forgotten the despatches in
which it was intended that the question of the social and political state of
California [be discussed], which I had the honor of addressing to you since
my return to this country in June 1852. In these despatches I tried to show
that neither the disorders, the anarchy nor the partial revolutions, with
which this country has been ceaselessly afflicted, were of a nature to slacken
its progressive march or to stop its flight toward a higher destiny.
In my communication of June 18, 1855 (Direction des Consulats number
74 Calijornia Historical Society Quarterly
thim'-one), I said: "It has always seemed to me that the most interesting
question, in so far as the state of this countn^ interests the politique and com-
merce of foreign nations, is to know whether the anarchv, the disorders, the
immorality, the hostile tendencies toward foreioners, will become a serious
obstacle to immigration, which this countr\- needs, and will hinder it from
continuing its improvements and its progress; whether they will injure the
development of its immense resources and keep it from becomincr before
many years one of the most flourishing states in the Union and the most
powerful maritime country of these oceans."
My response to this question was confined then to a description of the
fine hydrauHc works already carried on at the placers, to the auriferous ex-
ploitations, and to the innovations and immense agricultural progress of this
country. I spoke also of the thousand new industries which were developingr
on all sides at that time, despite the obstacles created by an anarchy without
precedent, and despite the financial crisis, which at that period threatened
commerce with total ruin.'^
A year later, in mv despatch which I had the honor of addressing to Your
Excellency (Direction Politique number three),-- after having described the
sad political and social state of this country, the distressing^ immoralit\' of
the public officials, the uprising of the inhabitants of the cirv and counts' of
San Francisco, I said: "In any case, I believe the disorders have in them
nothino- verv menacing; these local and momentary agitations are, for new
states such as Texas and California, only the inevitable and but-little danger-
ous crises to be found in recently-born American societies."
After having had indicated [to you] in this last despatch the causes of
these disorders. Your Excellency will wish to permit me to explain why this
lack of crood laws and of a eood administration, and the reig-n of such an-
archy, have had, after all, only a feeble influence upon the prosperity of
these new countries and why these obstacles will not seriously hinder their
proo-ressive march and their material improvements.
The true cause of such a strange state of things is that, despite the recogni-
tion of a creneral government, evervthingr in this immense empire is divided.-^
It is because the political and social dissensions as well as the grievances of
the people of any state have only a purely local character, which cannot look
forward to any general movement on the part of the masses, that no uprising
considerable enough to merit the name of revolution can take place.
The general government, as I have indicated in a note in my despatch
number three, is not a government protective in its nature. Even the feeling
of durv appears in many circumstances to influence it only slightly. Its right
of inten-ention is also ver\' Hmited. The case of war excepted, it has no initia-
tive to exercise. It can mix neither in the administration nor in the internal
police of the states. It does not have the right to intervene with regard to
Second Incumbency of J. A. Moerenhout 75
their social and political dissensions, unless it is officially requested to do so
by the governors of the same states.
The Indians themselves, who, because of their difficult and precarious
position in the midst of the white population, have great need of its protec-
tion, only rarely receive even the slightest assistance. Its protection of these
homeless dispossessed tribes is only apparent and often derisory and cruel.
The Indian reservation, of which the Americans speak frequently with em-
phasis, most often gives occasion, as in this region, only to odious specula-
tions, with the help of which the agents of the Federal government enrich
themselves; and this in the name of humanity, justice and philanthropy. The
promises taken by these agents in the name of the superior authorities are
almost never respected. Their action or their power is not an obstacle to the
depredations and spoliations of which they [the Indians] are forever their
victims.
What I say here in regard to the Indians equally applies to the inhabitants
of foreign races living in the newly acquired countries. Their most common
and sacred rights are disregarded with impunity, trampled under foot, with-
out the Federal government having the desire or the power to protect them.
To this great division of sovereign and independent states we must add the
multiple subdivisions to which these same states are subject by their own
constitutions. In the same way, each state comprises {comports) an ensemble
of small sovereignties, designated by the terms counties, towns, and pre-
cincts, shires, villes^ bourges, and banlieues, all of which have special laws,
administrations, and police; in which the inhabitants themselves choose their
magistrates, regulate their own difficulties, frequently themselves redress the
wrongs which have been done them, without invoking the assistance or the
intervention of the State authorities. Hence these summary executions by
lynch law; hence also the creation of the vigilance committees, established
according to the same principle and the same authority.*
To these considerations, I must add another which appears to me equally
*[Moerenhout's note:] At each violation of the law, the sheriffs can do for the coun-
ties and the cities that which in similar circumstances the governors can do for the states;
that is, in the same manner as the govenor can summon the militia of the state, the sheriff
can call the mass of citizens and can, in case of need, request the assistance of the state
authorities, as the governor can solicit that of the general government. Most of the time
these calls remain without responses. The annals of nearly all the counties of California
have recorded what is properly called summary executions in the name of lynch law.
The opposition of some sheriffs in similar circumstances has had no more effect than the
proclamation of the present governor of California concerning the Vigilance Committee,
which really governs us. Thus there is a very sad state of affairs which can only be ex-
plained with difficulty in Europe, but the moral of which is that here all these deplorable
agitations are only partial [local?] without serious consequences either for the Union or
for the states which are the theaters for them. Rarely do these movements extend beyond
the limits within which they are born. Generally they only affect a small part of the
population. They are of short duration and soon forgotten.
7^ California Historical Society Quarterly
worthy of notice; that is, in the United States ambition does not yet have
glory for a stimulant. The only and unique motive power of all their enter-
prises is the personal or moneyed interest. Every candidate is serious only
on condition of being able to pay, to reward largely the men of his party.
The one, who would have only glory or honor to offer, not only will remain
alone but would make himself ridiculous. I must add that, on their side, the
masses, always preoccupied with their private interests, almost everywhere
maintain a foundation of common sense, which for a long time yet will alone
suffice to prevent all great commotion in the interior of the states. Likewise
it will know how to avert, if need be, the truly dangerous questions, in order
to maintain the Union or to offer an insurmountable obstacle to the division
of these same states.
Thus it is that the history of the first years of California is very analogous
to that of other new states, [but] with these differences, that the emigration
which has flung itself suddenly on this new country was not composed ex-
clusively of Americans; that it was composed solely of men; and borrowed
its component parts [empruntait ses Siemens (sic)] from all the countries
of the earth. In every other respect, this country has only followed the prog-
ress of Texas and that of the new states invaded by the Anglo-American race
for the past twenty-five or thirty years.
In all these countries and in all these circumstances, the Americans appear
to have adapted themselves to more or less justifying the moral which gives
right to the strongest, or to the most cunning. They have chased or extermi-
nated the Indians everywhere and have taken possession of the wealth of the
natives, who have neither their experience nor their cleverness for business.*
A fact worthy of notice is that the Anglo-American people absorb the
* [Moerenhout's note: ] The promptness with which the Americans have taken posses-
sion of the weakh of the Mexican population in California is almost marvelous. Eight
years of occupation have sufficed to absorb all the northern part down to San Jose, and
even to the environs of Los Angeles to the South, three-quarters of the cattle and of the
lands which composed all the property of these unfortunate ones. Wherever the Ameri-
cans are settled in numbers, they have left nothing to the Californian inhabitants. To
these spoliations and these thefts, even the Federal government appears to be united.
Who speaks of the obligation in which this government has placed them of proving the
validity of their claims— that of making them pay taxes on lands which by the first
measure has dispossessed them. In any case they will never be able to escape the endless
multitude of lawyers, squatters, swindlers, cattle-thieves, and people without principle
or honesty who surround them on all sides. Another strange fact, but one very consistent
with American manners, is that the gentleness, the honesty, the experience and the
timidity which form the striking traits of character of the Californian Mexicans, far from
awakening any feeling of pity, kindness, or of justice in the Americans of these early
times or in those who arrived in this country since then, more often provoke only con-
tempt and mockery. There is in this respect a distinct trait of the American character in
these countries and everywhere, I believe. No one poses as a protector. Those who do
not know how to defend their rights or guarantee themselves against fraud are not
worthy either of pity or sympathy.
Secojjd Incumbency of J. A. Moerenhout ^'-j
other people rather than infuse itself with them. It is so much easier for them
in the countries of which I have just spoken, that it meets only absolutely
new populations, inexperienced and peaceful, who are frightened with a
state of society where neither position nor right appear sacred and who,
seeing themselves immediately attacked in their property and in their person,
lose all courage in discovering that the law is only a dead letter, justice a vain
word, and that there is no security for [of] persons with this first rebuff
from American society. Thus it is not astonishing, that the more honest but
weaker people unconsciously withdraw before what I would call this flood
of brutality and injustice and, not being sustained by new emigration, a few
years will lead to [their?] complete disappearance.
The American colonists, on the contrary, far from being surprised or
frightened by the disorders and crimes which always signalize the early
times of their settlements in these new countries, know that this anarchy
and agitation are only momentary. They take their families there, migrate
with wife and children and in this manner gradually bring about the re-
organization of their own society in the new countries of which they have
become the masters. It is the introduction of their family and the habit of the
American woman of emigrating at the same time as the men that accounts
for the repulsion which inspires Americans to mix with inferior races, a re-
pulsion which is rarely surmounted. With such a tendency not only does
the Anglo-American race remain pure, but in this manner a few years suffice
to achieve its destructive work everywhere.
This prompt and general introduction of the family in every case is all to
the advantage of this same American race. The arrival of the woman gen-
erally inaugurates a better state of society and [one that is] of a more moral
existence. Generally she puts an end also to the disorders which characterize
the early settlements of these new states. She, as well as the children, are like
powerful bonds which attach the American colonist to the soil of a deserted
or foreign country where he [they] has [have] come to establish themselves.
To all these causes combined I believe must be attributed the prompt, almost
magic success of an industrious, moral, religious population, which almost
everywhere in these new countries has replaced the mob of corrupt men and
of people without faith or law.
What a difference with the Spanish race from one end of America to the
other. It, on the contrary, has constantly adulterated its purity by con-
stantly, and without the least repugnance or prudence, mixing with races of
inferior blood, Indian or black, thus gradually preparing for the abandon-
ment to which the descendants of this race have fallen. By these regrettable
crossings they are hardly distinguishable in so many localities today from
the Indian and black races, and are scarcely superior to them either in man-
ners, industry or intelligence.
I do not know a better way to end this ensemble of general considerations
78 California Historical Society Quarterly
than to call Your Excellency's attention again to this fact, doubtlessly known
to you, that, aside from the famous question of slavery, there is really no
dangerous question in the United States; that is, a question of revolution
which might imperil some states or the Union. The classification of different
parties, the division of their differences in regard to the next presidential
election, clearly show to all judicious observers that the entire mass of the
states is far from profound commotion and they are really and seriously
agitated only when the question of slavery itself is put in play.
As for California, it is far from being in revolution, for one cannot give
this name to the agitation of which San Francisco is the theater, and to those
agitations of which other counties of the state are actually the prey. As I have
had the honor of saying in my preceding despatch, these movements are not
political; they are not even general. They are the expression of the discon-
tent of a ville against a certain order of things which has its echoes in all the
country. It is a simple injunction to magistrates and to all the authorities to
do their duty better in the future. A movement of this nature, deplorable
as it is because of so much illegality, as for example when it gives contempt
to laws, will have effect for the moment only. Unless the general govern-
ment has the imprudence to intervene, it is reaching its end^^ and will really
terminate without any vexatious consequences for this country.
Accept the homage of the respect with which I have the honor of being
Monsieur le Ministre,
Your Excellency's very humble and obedient servant,
.jj J J. A. Moerenhout
Addressed: *' ^ , ._^
.^ „ „ Consul or t ranee
A Son Excellence
Monsieur le Ministre des Affaires tltr anger es a Paris
(To be continued)
NOTES
68. On the constitutional convention of 1849, see J. Ross Browne's transcription in his
Report of the Debates in the Constitutional Convention of California (Washington,
1850); Bancroft, History of California, VI, 276 ff.; Hittell, op. cit., II, 756 ff.; Cardinal
Goodwin, Establishment of State Government in California, 1846-18^0 (New York,
1914), passim; Joseph Ellison, "Struggle for Civil Government in California," this Quar-
terly, X (1931), 150 ff.; Rev. S. H. Willey, Transition Period of California (San Fran-
cisco, 1901), passijn.
69. On the subject of taxes, see Soule et al., op. cit., pp. 393, 394; Hittell, op. cit., II,
801-802, and III, 387 ff., 407 fF.
70. On indebtedness at this time, see Bancroft, History of California, VI, 772-76.
71. As to the prevalence of crime, see Williams, loc. cit.; Bancroft, History of Cali-
fornia, VI, 742 ff.; also his California Inter Pocula (San Francisco, 1888), chapters XI-
XII, XXI-XXIV passifn, and Popular Tribunals, loc. cit.; Hittell, op. cit., Ill, 460 ff.
72. For the assassination of James King of William and formation of the Vigilance
Second Incumbency of J. A. Moerenhout 79
Committee of 1856, see 34th Cong., ist sess., Sen. Ex. Doc. loi (ser. no. 824) ; 34th Cong.,
2d sess.. Sen. Misc. Doc. i (ser. 835); 34th Cong., 3d sess.. Sen. Ex. Doc. 43 (ser. 881);
Bancroft, History of California, VI, 746-54; and his Popular Tribunals, II, 40-41, 55-68;
Hittell, op. cit., Ill, 462 ff.; W. T. Coleman, "San Francisco Vigilance Committee," in
Century Magazine, XLIII, 133-59. Williams, op. cit., pp. 388 ff., gives an account of the
period subsequent to the time of the first Vigilance Committee; an exhaustive bibliogra-
phy appears in the appendix to this admirable piece of historical w^riting.
73. Concerning the Vigilance Committee and Federal interference, see Joseph Ellison,
California and the Nation (Berkeley, 1927), pp. 125-35.
74. On the slavery issue in California, see C. A. Duniway, "Slavery in California after
1848," in Annual Report, American Historical Association, 1905, I, 243-48; Ellison,
"Struggle for Civil Government . . .," op. cit., pp. 132-34, 151-52.
75. See Note 45, above, for reference on the Know Nothing party.
76. On the Law and Order party in California, see Bancroft, Popular Tribunals, I,
76-87, 313 ff.; Williams, op. cit., 100, 195-99; ^^^ Dillon, ide?n.
77. Correspondance Politique, Ser. Etats-Unis, Vol. 115, folios 1 14-18, verso.
78. Vice Consulat de France a Monterey, No. 4. Direction Politique.
79. For the financial and business crises of 1854 and 1855, especially the banking and
business failures of the latter year, see Hittell, op. cit.. Ill, 423-59; Josiah Royce, Cali-
fornia from the Conquest . . . (Boston, 1886), Chap. V, section 6.
80. Document No. XIX. This is not the exact language of his previous despatch from
which he is quoting.
81. A very good account of California in its relations as a frontier province with the
Federal government is contained in Joseph W. Ellison, California and the Nation, 18 $0-
i86g (Berkeley, 1927). Several problems discussed in this letter are taken up in detail in
this excellently written piece of historical scholarship. See also Bancroft's Popular Tri-
bunals and his California Inter Pocula, passim.
82. The general committee of the San Francisco Vigilance Committee of 1856 was
adjourned sine die on August 18, 1856, although as a factor in California life it long sur-
vived the formal adjournment. Executive meetings continued as late as November 1859.
(Bancroft, Popular Tribunals, II, 541.) They formed the People's party and were active
in California politics.
Recent Californiana
A Check List of Publications Relating to California
AiNswoRTH, Edward Maddin
California Jubilee; nuggets from many hidden veins, [n.p.] Murray and Gee, 1948.
272 p. $3.00.
Balzer, Robert Lawrence
California's Best Wines, illustrated by Cas Duchow. Pasadena, Anderson & Ritchie,
1948. 153 p. $4.00.
BORTHWICK, J. D.
Three Years in California, with index and foreword by Joseph A. Sullivan. Oakland,
Biobooks, 1948. 318 p. illus., map. $15.00.
Bruce, John
Gaudy Century, the story of San Francisco's hundred years of robust journalism.
New York, Random House, 1948. 302 p. $3.75.
Caen, Herb
The San Francisco Book, photographs by Max Yavno. Boston, Houghton Mifflin,
1948. 119 p. $5.00.
Collins, Carvel, ed.
Sam Ward in the Gold Rush. Stanford, Stanford University Press, 1948. 220 p. illus.
$3.50.
CoLTON, Walter
The California Diary (a reprint of Three Years in California, 1850). Oakland, Bio-
books, 1948. $15.00.
CosGRAVE, George
Early California Justice, a history of the United States District Court for the South-
ern District of California 1849- 1944, edited by Roy Vernon Sowers. San Francisco,
Grabhorn Press, 1948. 97 p. $10.00.
De Ford, Miriam Allen
Psychologist Unretired, the hfe pattern of Dr. Lillien J. Martin of San Francisco.
Stanford, Stanford University Press, 1948. 127 p. illus. $3.00.
De Roos, Robert
The Thirsty Land. Stanford, Stanford University Press, 1948. 229 p. illus. $4.00.
Farquhar, Francis P.
Yosemite, the Big Trees, and the High Sierra, a selective Bibliography. Berkeley,
University of California Press, 1948. $7.50.
Griffith, Beatrice Winston
American Me. Boston, Houghton Mifflin, 1948. 341 p. illus. $3.50.
Henry, Darold J.
California Gem Trails. Portland, Ore., Mineralogist Pub. Co., 329 S. E. 32nd Ave.
[1948] 63 p. illus. $1.50.
Holmes, Harold C.
A Descriptive and Priced Catalog . . . Formerly the Collection of Thomas Wayne
Norris. Oakland, The Holmes Book Co., 1948. 217 p. $10.00. [Grabhorn Press]
HuLBERT, Archer Butler
Forty-niners; the chronicle of the California Trail. Boston, Little, Brown & Co., 1948.
340 p. illus., maps.
Hutchinson, W. H.
One Man's West, drawings by John Pagan. Chico, Calif., Hurst & Yount, 1948. 127 p.
illus. $2.00.
80
Recent Calif orniana 8 1
Issuer, Ann Roller
Happier for his Presence [Biography of Robert Louis Stevenson]. Stanford, Stan-
ford University Press, 1948. 260 p. illus. $3.50.
McClure, James D.
California Landmarks. Stanford, Stanford University Press, 1948. 150 p. illus. $3.00.
Miller, Max
The Town w^ith the Funny Name [La Jolla]. New York, Dutton, 1948. 224 p. illus.
$2.75.
MUENCH, JoSEF
Along Yosemite Trails. New York, Hastings, 1948. loi p. illus. $2.75.
MuiR, John
Yosemite and the Sierra Nevadas, photographs by Ansel Adams. Boston, Houghton
Mifflin, 1948. 132 p. illus. $6.00.
Palmer, T. S.
Place Names of the Death Valley Region in California and Nevada, [n.p.] 1948. 80 p.
Peralta Associates, Oakland
From Shore to Shore, The Key Route. Oakland, Peralta Associates, 1948. 20 p. illus.
$1.50.
Ryder, David Warren
Memories of the Mendocino Coast. San Francisco, Privately Printed, 1948. 81 p. illus.
San Francisco Museum of Art
Landscape Design: 1948. San Francisco, The Museum, 1948. illus. $2.00.
Setti.e, Raymond W. and Mary Lund Settle
Empire on Wheels. Stanford, Stanford University Press, 1948. 180 p. illus. $3.50.
(Transportation Series)
Tripp, C. E.
Ace High the Frisco Detective; or. The Girl Sport's Double Game, a story of the
Sierra and the Golden Gate City. San Francisco, Book Club of California, 1948. $8.50.
White, John R. and Samual J. Pusateri
Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks. Stanford, Stanford University Press,
1948. 224 p. illus. $3.00.
News of the Society
Gifts Received by the Society
November i, 1948 to January 31, 1949
BOOKS AND PAMPHLETS
From an ANONYMOUS DONOR-Manual of the Union High School of Redlands,
Lugonia, and Crafton, 18 ^-j. Redlands, Citograph Power Print., 1897.
From MR. RICHARD K. BEARDSLEY-His: Culture Sequences in Central Cali-
fornia Archaeology. Reprinted from American Antiquity^ V. 14, no. i (July 1948).
From MRS. MAE HELENE BACON BOGGS-Lowell High School, The Lowell
Annual, 190$. [San Francisco] Xmas, 1905.
From BINFORDS & MORT, PUBLISHERS-Murphy, Celeste G., The People of the
Pueblo, or The Story of Sonoma, Centennial Edition. Portland, Ore., Binfords & Mort
[1948]
From CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES, DIVISION
OF MINES— Its: Bulletin 141, Geologic Guidebook along Highivay 49—Sierran Gold
Belt, The Mother Lode Country (Centennial Edition). San Francisco, 1948.
From CALIFORNIA STATE LIBRARY-Its: Handbook of Information for use of
Members of California Legislature General Session 1949. [Sacramento, Calif., State Print.
Off., 1949]
From MISS PEARL CHASE-First National Trust and Savings Bank of Santa Bar-
bara, Facts Behind The Fame of Santa Barbara County. [Santa Barbara, The Company,
1948]
From MR. E. I. EDWARDS-His: ''Into an Alkali Valley'' the First Written Account
of Death Valley. Los Angeles, Edwards and Williams, 1948.
From REVEREND MAYNARD GEIGER, O.F.M.-His: The Franciscan ''Mission''
to San Fernando College, Mexico, 1749. Reprinted from The Americas, V. 5, no. i (July
1948)-
From MR. HAROLD C. HOLMES-y4 Descriptive and Priced Catalog of Books,
Pamphlets, and Maps Relating Directly or Indirectly to the History, Literature and
Printing of California & The Far West, Formerly the Collection of Thomas Wayne
N orris, Livermore, California. Oakland, The Holmes Book Co., 1948.
From MR. W. H. HUTCHINSON-His: One Man's West. Chico, Hurst & Yount,
1948.
From MR. JOSEPH HENRY JACKSON-His: The Creation of Joaquin Murieta.
Reprinted from The Pacific Spectator, V. 2, no. 2 (Spring, 1948).
From MR. OTIS RUSSELL JOHNSON-Ryder, David Warren, Memories of the
Mendocino Coast. San Francisco, Privately Printed, 1948.
From MACKENZIE & HARRIS, INC.-Centaur and Arrighi; specimen broadside
designed by Bruce Rogers, the text by Robert Grabhorn. San Francisco, Taylor &
Taylor, 1948.
From MR. ERNEST MARTENS— 7?w/^;- of the Board of Education and Regulations
of the Public Schools, San Francisco, 1880. San Francisco, P. J. Thomas, 1880.
From MR. THOMAS W. NORRIS-T-ujo Letters of James McHall Jones, delegate
to the California Constitutional Convention, 1849. From the Collection of Thomas W.
Norris, Carmel, California, December 25th, 1948.
From MR. T. S. PALMER— P/^^e Names of the Death Valley Region in California
and Nevada, edited by T. S. Palmer, [n.p., 1948]
82
News of the Society 83
From THE RUSS BUILDING COMPANY-Russ Building Company, Annual Re-
port, ip4'j-48, Russ Building San Francisco. San Francisco, Conner Company, 1947.
From MR. PAUL P. PARKER— Mason, R. B., Proclamation concerning the exchange
or selling of "spirituous Hquor or wine" to an Indian. Broadside, Monterey, November
29, 1847. [San Francisco, 1847]
From MR. VERNON J. SAPFERS-Fro?n Shore to Shore, the Key Route. Oakland,
Peralta Associates, 1948.
From MR. FLOYD C. SHOEMAKER- His: The State Historical Society of Mis-
souri; a Semicentennial History. Columbia, The Society, 1948.
From MR. & MRS. ROY VERNON SOWERS-Cosgrave, George, Early California
Justice, the History of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Cali-
fornia, 1849-1944, edited by Roy Vernon Sowers. San Francisco, The Grabhorn Press,
1948.
From UNION PACIFIC RAILROAD-Meacham, Walter E., Old Oregon Trail,
Roadway of American Home Builders, New York, American Pioneer Trails Assoc, Inc.,
1948.
From STANFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS-Collins, Carvel, ed., Sam Ward in the
Gold Rush. Stanford, Stanford University Press, 1949.
From MISS RUTH TEISER-Ongm of Wells, Fargo (zJ^ Company 1841-18S2, by Ruth
Teiser and Catherine Harroun. Reprinted from The Bulletin of the Business Historical
Society (June 1948).
From MR. HENRY R. WAGNER— California Mines and Minerals, San Francisco,
California Miners Assn., 1899; Carrera Stampa, Manuel, Mapas y Pianos Relativos a
Mexico. Reprinted from Revista Iberoamericana, Febrero de 1947; Conant, A. J., Foot-
prints of Vanished Races, St. Louis, C. R. Barns, 1879; Hittell, John S., Tannivald, a
drama, San Francisco, Alta Cahfornia Print., 1878; Isbell, F. A., Mining & Hunting in
the Far West 18^2-18^0, Burlingame, W. P. Wreden, 1948; Macdonald, A. S., A Collec-
tion of Verse, San Francisco, 19 14; Rules of Practice in the Supreme Court of California,
adopted at the ]une term, i8$o. [San Francisco, J. Winchester, 1850]
From WHITTLESEY HOUSE-O'Brien, Robert, This Is San Francisco, illustrated
by Antonio Sotomayor. New York, Whittlesey House, C1948.
From MISS LOTTIE G. WOODS-Berkeleyan Stock Company, comp.. College
Verses. San Francisco, California Publishing Co., 1882.
MAGAZINES AND NEWSPAPERS
From GENERAL H. H. ARNOLD-His: "My Life In The VaUey of the Moon" in
the National Geographic Magazine. (December 1948).
From REVEREND MAYNARD GEIGER, O.F. M.-Knights of Columbus Journal,
Southern Cahfornia Chapter, Special California Centennial Edition, 1849- 1948. Los An-
geles, October 1948.
From MR. SIDNEY TEISER-His: "First Associate Justice of Oregon Territory:
O. C. Pratt," in Oregon Historical Quarterly, V. 49, no. 3 (September 1948).
From ZAMORANO CLVB-Hoja Volante, nos. 14-21, February 1947-November
1948.
MANUSCRIPTS
From MR. CHARLES E. ARNOLD-His: The Arnold Fcmiily, in California since
i8^$, in San Diego since 1869, Brokers in Real Estate and Associated Lines, Civic, Social,
and Cultural Workers. Compiled for the San Diego Historical Society and for the Cali-
fornia Historical Society 1940-1948. Photostat of typed copy with mounted photographs.
From MR. R. H. CROSS, SR.-^ Large Collection of Photostats and Typed Copies of
84 California Historical Society Quarterly
Various Documents, Letters, etc. used as source material for Early California Justice, by
the late Judge George Cosgrave; also Judge Cosgrave's typed manuscript, with notes and
correspondence relative to the book. Including over 50 photostats, 20 typed copies of
documents and over 70 letters to the author answering various inquiries relative to the
matter of the book.
From MR. CHARLES KASCH— A letter from Robert Louis Stevenson to Mr. Donat,
September 10, 1888; Two letters from Woodrow Wilson to Charles H. Shinn of North
Fork, California; A circular letter issued in San Francisco on October 20th, 1862, regard-
ing Relief Fund for soldiers of the National Army.
From OAKLAND PUBLIC LIBRARY-Thomas, Mabel W., One Hundred and One
California Writers, Typewritten manuscript.
From MR. PAUL P. PARKER— A citation signed 12th Jan. 1846 by Juan Gilroy; a
receipt for one horse and one sword of Phelipe Amis signed, 25th Sept, 1846 by W.
Blackburn.
PICTURES AND MAPS
From GENERAL H. H. ARNOLD— Map: Southwestern United States, compiled
and drawn in the Cartographic Section of the National Geographic society . . . Wash-
ington, D. C, December 1948.
From MRS. MAE HELENE BACON BOGGS-Negative photostat of Russian map
of the Pacific Coast, 1802.
From C. E. von GELDERN, M.D.— Two photographs. Dr. C. E. von Geldern, of
Sonoma, and his son Dr. Otto von Geldern.
From MRS. JOHN HEINZER— Framed photographs of three Modoc Indian prison-
ers, Captain Jack, Scar-Faced Charley, and Schonchin.
From MR. GERALD KANE— Three photographs: Table of distances from Hotel
Watt, Austin, Nevada; Clifton Tunnel, Austin, Nevada, 1898; portrait of Anton P.
Maestretti.
From MR. GUY C. MILLER— Photograph of Pioneer Park Observatory, Telegraph
Hill, San Francisco, 1884.
From RUSS BUILDING COMPANY-Photograph of the Russ Building.
MISCELLANEOUS
From an ANONYMOUS DONOR— Wells, Fargo & Co.'s Express receipt for June 13,
1898.
From MR. L. M. HEROLD— Pass to Oakland after the fire, April 1906; Pass to visit
his property after the fire, May 1906; Two transfers of the Presidio & Ferries R. R. Co.,
last trip and last car of the company run as a cable car.
From A. T. LEONARD, JR., M.D.— Official Souvenir Program, Portola Festival, San
Francisco, 1948; Rose Bowl Program, January i, 1949.
From MR. ERNEST MARTENS-Golden State Boot and Shoe Store business card;
Broadway Grammar School, San Francisco, card of merit, October 29, 1869.
From MISS IDA RICH ARTZ— Black lace jacket, handkerchief, and silk jacket owned
by Elizabeth Weeks, wife of Samuel P. Weeks Sr.
From MRS. HELEN MARYE THOMAS— Insignia, with accompanying documents,
of the Order of St. Alexander Nevsky given to Ambassador George T. Marye by the
Emperor Nicholas II, in original red leather case.
From MR. WILLIAM WAGENER-Badge of the Exempt Fire Company San Fran-
cisco.
From MISS LOTTIE G. WOODS— Eleven meal tickets issued in San Francisco ^fter
the fire in 1906; Broadside, United States Mail Line from Downieville to Nevada City,
Campton, and Marysville. [Downieville] Mountain Messenger Print, [n.d.]
News of the Society 85
REPORT OF THE SECRETARY
For the Year Ending December 3 1, 1948
The Society's activities during the past year have kept pace with the added
interests and responsibiHties occasioned by the centennials, now current in
California. Throughout the year, officers, members, and staff continued their
assistance to many individuals and organizations; illustrative materials were
furnished for advertisements, members participated actively in the work of
sundry committees, and aid was given in connection with research on im-
portant historical subjects.
Three Special Publications were issued during the year: in January, Cali-
fornia Gold Discovery, and, in March, Arthur Woodward's Lances at San
Pascual, and The Journal of Madison Berryman Moorman, edited by Mrs.
Irene D. Paden.
In July, notice was sent to the members that a Book of Memories had been
established for preservation in the Society's archives. Contributions to the
Library Fund, made as memorials to members and friends of members, have
averaged three a month since that time, and seventeen names have thereby
been inscribed in the Book of Memories.
In November, the Board of Directors authorized publication of a monthly
news letter, called Notes from the California Historical Society, to serve as
an informal channel of communication between the Society and its members.
The preliminary issue was distributed in December. Financial provision for
publication of the Notes was made possible by the inclusion of luncheon
notices therein, thus eliminating the cost of printing and mailing post-card
notices.
DIRECTORS AND OFFICERS
At the annual Business Meeting, held at the Palace Hotel on January 23,
K. K. Bechtel, Garner A. Beckett, Anson S. Blake, Mae Helene Bacon Boggs,
Allen L. Chickering, Templeton Crocker, Ralph H. Cross, Aubrey Drury,
Francis P. Farquhar, Morton R. Gibbons, M.D., George L. Harding, War-
ren R. Howell, Joseph R. Knowland, A. T. Leonard, Jr., M.D., and Mrs.
Elizabeth Gray Potter were elected to serve as directors for the year, and
until their successors are elected. The first meeting of the Board of Directors
following the election was held on February 1 1, at which Anson S. Blake was
elected president, Joseph R. Knowland, Morton R. Gibbons, M.D., and
Francis P. Farquhar first, second, and third vice-presidents respectively,
Warren R. Howell secretary, and George L. Harding treasurer, all to serve
during the forthcoming year, and until their successors are elected.
MEMBERSHIPS
Largely in line with a general tightening of business conditions which
occurred during the last three months of the year, the net increase in mem-
86 California Historical Society Quarterly
bership fell slightly below the high average of the past two years. The
Society was able, however, to end the year with an increase from 1330 to
1443 members, or a net gain of 1 1 3. Of these, 61 were new sustaining mem-
bers, bringing the total in that class to 145, and 5 were new patron members,
with a total of 26. The Society is deeply grateful to those members who thus
generously increased their dues in order to help meet rising costs of opera-
tion. It is gratifying to record that much of the increased membership comes
from outside the Bay region, thereby expanding and solidifying the area of
influence of the Society.
LIBRARY AND GIFTS
In August, Miss Jane Wilson, the librarian, resigned to become librarian
with the Air Forces in Germany. She was replaced in September with the
appointment of Mrs. Virginia C. Parker, a graduate of the University of
California School of Librarianship. Progress was continued in the work of
cataloging the backlog of materials, and current accessions have all been
processed.
During the year, 536 books and manuscripts, and 185 pictures and mu-
seum objects were accessioned. Through volunteer help, all newspapers
were listed and the file of photographic negatives was cataloged. A goodly
portion of the pictures, heretofore uncataloged, was also processed. The
cumulative index to the Quarterly has been carried through volume XVI.
Gifts, all of which have been acknowledged in the Quarterly, came to the
library from some 270 members and friends, and included, as a happy sur-
prise from three members, substantial cash contributions to the Library
Fund.
MEETINGS
The Board of Directors held its customary eleven meetings on the second
Wednesday of each month except July. One dinner meeting was held in
conjunction with the Pacific Coast Branch of the American Historical Asso-
ciation on January 2, at which President Blake presided, and at which the
speakers were Dr. Owen C. Coy, Joseph R. Knowland, and Dr. Aubrey
Neasham. Eight luncheon meetings were held in San Francisco and one, in
September, at the Portola Discovery site on Sweeney Ridge.
Luncheon speakers and their subjects were:
January 23: The Reverend John W. Winkley, "Gold and Ghost-Towns After One
Hundred Years."
February 12: Dr. Frederic Logan Paxson, "The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo."
March 11: Benjamin F. Gilbert, "Navies in the Pacific, 1861-1865."
April 8: Mrs. Irene D. Paden, "The Journal of Madison Berryman Moorman."
May 13: Mrs. Hilda K. Wilgus, "17 Years with the Rollins Collection of Western
Americana."
June 10: Mrs. William H. Voiles, "Old Homes of El Dorado" (with slides).
September 16: Dr. Frank M. Stanger, "The Portola Discovery Site."
News of the Society 87
October 14: Col. Fred B, Rogers, "Early Military Posts of Mendocino County."
November 1 1 : "William Keith, Portrait Painter of Significant California Personalities"
(illustrated)— a program in conjunction with the Keith Art Association.
Respectfully submitted,
Warren R. Howell, Secretary
Owing to the delay in receiving the financial statement from the auditors,
the Annual Report of the Treasurer does not appear here but will be pub-
lished in the June Quarterly.
88 California Historical Society Quarterly
Meetings
Preliminary to the showing of twenty-four originals and photographs of
William Keith's portraits at the Society's luncheon meeting on November
1 1, 1948, Mrs. Camille Johnston Ehrenfels, chairman for the Keith Art Asso-
ciation's display, recounted informally her personal recollections of the
famous CaHfornia artist. As a student at Mark Hopkins Institute of Art in
San Francisco, and, in 1 90 1 , as the first woman to register in architecture at
the University of California in Berkeley under Bernard Maybeck, Mrs.
Ehrenfels had had chance meetings with Mr. Keith on the ferry boats. One
day, with some trepidation, she showed him a bound blank book containing
sketches by her artist friends, whereupon he said that he, too, would be
represented by a water color. But the earthquake intervened, the book was
lost, and, in its place, Mrs. Ehrenfels received, through the generosity of the
Keith family, one of her fellow-commuter's paintings.
Program master for the occasion was Mr. Frank Joyce, public relations
officer for many associations of note that are concerned with forms of art.
He commented briefly on each picture. They were spread out on a large
table and consisted of reproductions of portraits, among which were those
of H. E. Huntington, E. H. Harriman, Rev. Mr. Giles Easton, Miss Jean
Mills, as well as the originals of some of Keith's Munich models, Mrs. Keith
included. The luminosity of the head and shoulders of the sitters against
the dark backgrounds was beautifully reproduced in the photographs, even
if the period in which they were painted did not call for gold helmets.
This exhibition had been preceded by other displays at the Keith Art Asso-
ciation's headquarters, showing Keith as engraver and water colorist. On the
first Sunday of every month, between 3 and 5 o'clock, friends and guests
are welcomed at the Keith home on Ridge Road in Berkeley.
On January 28, 1949, following the annual business meeting, members and
guests of the Society looked back on the Gaudy Century that had elapsed
since the find at Coloma. They had the advantage of being guided in their
retrospect by the city editor of the San Francisco Chronicle, John Bruce,
author of the recent book bearing that title, from the original manuscript
of which, they were told, 75,000 words had been cut by the publishers
(Random House, New York, 1948), because of space limitations. Even so,
it contains 302 pages, not counting Joseph Henry Jackson's particularly
fine introduction. All of which goes to show that the amount of knowledge
in the possession of the author, on the subject of San Francisco's hundred
years of "robust journalism," as the sub-title terms it, is boundless.
This hundred-year span was "yeasty with tumultuous events," in the
words of the author. From the newspaper-till point of view the first year
was disastrous because, with the shout of gold in the foothills, San Francisco
News of the Society 89
had been depopulated; there were no subscribers and no advertisers left,
forcing the Star and the Calif ornian to close down their presses. But the
field was not vacant for long. The Alta California made its appearance in
the first month of 1 849, and by the middle of the year former New York
printers in the role of impresarios were sparring for journalistic position in
what Mr. Bruce calls a "flush of newspaper creation." Thereafter, through
page after page of the Gaudy Century the excitement runs in every direc-
tion, but not too fast for Editor John Nugent of the Herald to ask, in the
rabid and rapid-paced 1850's, was freedom of speech to be "crushed in this
city?" And yet Tom Sim King, brother of James, felt, in saying goodbye to
the Bulletin^ that "the temper of the times would not admit of delay in
searching for jingling words and honeyed expressions." It is this printing of
excerpts from editorials as well as from speeches in the book, on such sub-
jects as fires, duels, thieves, murderers, politics, that gives the reader time to
get his breath— time, such as the actual newspaper reader of any day needs
while trying to separate half- from dietetically-baked ideas.
Mr. Jackson in his introduction speaks of the author's early life with
"tough baseball-playing kids." As his hearers discovered, black eyes and
torn pants, fatal and otherwise, in the political and sociological history of
San Francisco, do seem to have entered easily and deeply into Mr. Bruce's
understanding of what to expect from western gaudiness mixed with yeasti-
ness.
f n iHemortam
Templeton Crocker
September 2, 1884— December 12, 1948
Mr. Crocker's services to many public enterprises are too well known to
need comment here. This notice will cover, therefore, only his relationship
to the California Historical Society.
He was one of a small group of thirty-four, constituting the first member-
ship, that considered the reviving of the Society in 1922. Mr. Crocker was
elected president and, as long as he held that office, he gave time and thought
to the affairs of the institution as well as generous financial aid. His influence
brought in numerous additions to the membership rolls.
The Society was first housed in a single room in the old Wells, Fargo
Express Building at 85 Second Street. Mr. Crocker took the adjoining ofiice
to house his large and valuable collection of books, manuscripts and docu-
ments pertaining to the history of California. Thus the Society was able to
offer students and prospective members a library for research and study
from the very beginning.
When he retired from the presidency of the Society, he did not relax his
support nor lose his contact with its affairs. It was he who suggested the
move to the Western Women's Club and who underwrote the increased
rental, over the amount that had been paid for the old quarters. When the
Society moved to its present quarters, he continued his support until the
increased membership made this no longer necessary. At about that time he
made an outright gift of his library to the Society.
During the early days and in the years of depression, he did not confine
himself to his stated monthly support of the organization. He was always
ready to join the anonymous group of members who made up deficits or
joined in purchasing desirable acquisitions to the library.
At his passing, it seems only proper that the members should realize that
he was the earliest member of the group whose loyalty and support have
made the continued existence of the Society possible in years of stress. Its
record of achievement is our best evidence of gratitude.
Anson S. Blake
90
News of the Society
Book of Memories
91
In memory of the following, contributions made to the Library Fund have
been received since the appearance of the December Quarterly, and the
names of the persons so honored will be entered in the Society's Book of
Memories.
Oscar Thomas Barber
Lillian Hoogs Blaisdell
Philip Read Bradley
Randolph Clement
Thomas Norman Harvey
New Members
Name
Amador County Historical Society
Arthur R. Anderson
Miss Nancy Anderson
Nat Davis
Mrs. Richard O. DriscoU
Sidney W. Fish
Mrs. Eldena L. George
Robert Nightingale Hart
J. S. HolUday
Kern County Historical Society
Mrs. W. J. Laing
Los Angeles County Law Library
Grace M. Magee, M.D.
Grant Morrow, M.D.
Ernest Moss
Paul A. Pflueger
Miss Eva Powell
Mrs. Waters Sellman
Shasta Historical Society
Mrs. J. C. Shinn
Frederick J. Simpson
Mrs. James Sherrill Taylor
Fred H. Thieme
Miss Florence Williams
Place
Jackson
Oakland
San Francisco
Los Angeles
San Jose
Carmel
Willows
Orinda
New Haven, Conn.
Bakersfield
Newcastle
Los Angeles
Los Angeles
San Francisco
Auburn
San Francisco
San Francisco
San Francisco
Redding
Niles
Palo Alto
San Francisco
Oakland
San Francisco
Proposed by
Membership Committee
Thomas W. Norris
Miss Jane Wilson
Membership Committee
Miss Alta C. Nolan
Membership Committee
Ralph H. Cross
Mrs. Rogers Parratt
W.J.HolHday
Membership Committee
Ralph H. Cross
Membership Committee
Membership Committee
Edgar M. Kahn
Ralph H. Cross
Membership Committee
Mrs. Elizabeth Gray Potter
Miss Alta C. Nolan
Membership Committee
Mrs. Clarence Shuey
Guy C. Miller
Mrs. Guy Gilchrist
Membership Committee
Mrs. Elizabeth Gray Potter
Marginalia
Notes on Authors in This Issue:
Julia Cooley Altrocchi (Mrs. Rudolph Altrocchi) is a native of Connecti-
cut. She grew up in Chicago, graduated from Vassar College in 19 14, and
for the last two decades has been a resident of California. Her first book,
Snow Covered Wagons (Macmillan, 1937), received one of two silver
medals awarded by the Commonwealth Club of San Francisco. Another
book, The Old California Trail, was published by the Caxton Press in 1940.
To appear shortly is her Spectacular San Francisco, 2. Dutton publication.
Mrs. Altrocchi's writings have appeared also in Harpefs Magazine and in
the Yale Review.
Rev. Maynard Geiger was born in Lancaster, Pa., in 190 1. In 1923 he be-
came a Franciscan and was ordained a priest in June of 1929. The next eight
years were spent in teaching Spanish, among other subjects, at St. Anthony's
Seminary, Santa Barbara, and in advanced studies at the Catholic University
of America in Washington, D. C, from which he received his Ph.D. degree
in 1937. Since then he has been archivist at the Old Mission, Santa Barbara,
besides serving as a member of the diocesan historical commission for the
canonization of Father Junipero Serra. The latter work has taken him to
Mexico, Spain, and Rome, in search of Serra's papers and documents on
Serra's life. Father Geiger's published writings include The Franciscan Con-
quest of Florida, i^']^-i6i8; and a Biographical Dictionary of the Francis-
cans in Spanish Florida and Cuba, 1^28-1841.
A. E. Sokol is executive head of the department of Asiatic and Slavic
studies at Stanford University. He was bom in Vienna, at whose university
he studied until coming to Stanford in 1929. Three years later, Stanford
granted him the Ph.D. degree, and he continued there as professor of Ger-
manic languages. The executive work, mentioned above, began in 1946.
"Anton Roman" is one in a series on nineteenth century American pub-
lishers prepared by Madeleine B. Stem. She is the author of The Life of
Margaret Fuller (Dutton, 1942), and her biography of Louisa M. Alcott,
written under a Guggenheim grant, is scheduled for publication early in
1950. Miss Stern is associated with the rare book firm of Leona Rostenberg
at 152 East 179th Street, New York City.
For biographical notes on authors of continued articles in this issue, see
index of the previous volume (XXVII) of the Quarterly.
Among Our New Members:
Miss Nancy Anderson, whose forebears found in Colorado and Utah their
farthest-west hopes for the future and stopped there, has, herself, pursued
92
Marginalia 93
the trek the rest of the way to the coast. She graduated from the University
of California in 1947, with special emphasis on journalism, and is at present,
in off -hours from her work at Peck-Judah's travel bureau, occupied in edit-
ing the letters of Capt. Bradford R. Alden, written from Fort Jones in 1853,
for publication shortly in this Quarterly.
A member of the Rancheros Visitadores who has known from boyhood
about the species Equus cahallus, Nat Davis has not only perfected his own
stables but has given others the benefit of his knowledge by serving as horse-
show announcer and as judge of breeding classes, horsemanship, et cetera.
At present he is specializing in quarter horses. Mr. Davis, a native of Ohio,
has been in California since 19 16. His business interests have taken him into
the field of credit management, along local (Los Angeles) and national Hues.
Miss Carmel Riley's grandparents on both sides emigrated to California
from across the Atlantic and settled in Grass Valley, Nevada County. From
Inniskillen, northern Ireland, came Michael and Sarah Scales Riley, while
the American Civil War was still in progress; and from Camborne, England,
some ten years later, Samuel and Mary Alice Jones Tyrrell arrived in this
state. Miss Riley's father, Peter Thomas Riley, a lawyer by profession,
graduated from the University of California with the class of 1 877— the third
class, as a matter of fact, to take their diplomas on Berkeley soil. For several
years Miss Riley has been assistant to the dean of the graduate division at the
state university.
The Indians of California and the Aztecs in the vicinity of Mexico City
are subjects of special interest to Fred H. Thieme, a student majoring in
history at the University of California. One glance at recent weather statis-
tics would convince even the most loyal among us that the Indians of the
far west had no perpetual bed of roses for survival, and consequently re-
search into their methods can never fail to be of importance.
From records beginning with the birth of John Wynne in Yorkshire,
England, in 1635, William Watkin Winn (see Dec. 1948 list) has traced his
ancestry through the intervening generations down to the arrival of John's
great, great, great grandson, Col. (Mississippi Volunteers, Mexican War)
Albert Maver Winn (b. Virginia, 18 10, the eldest of nineteen children; d.
Sonoma County, 1883) i^ San Francisco on May 28, 1849. At this point the
records multiply, in keeping with the activities of the then-colonel as manu-
facturer of rockers for use in the placers, as first mayor of Sacramento, as
brigadier general of militia, organizer of relief for distressed miners in
1849-50, first president of the California State Swamp Commission in 1861,
and, in 1 867-68, as initiator of the 8-hour day for men engaged in his former
trade of carpentry. His efforts in their behalf won special recognition from
Ira B. Cross in his A History of the Labor Movement in California (Berke-
94 California Historical Society Quarterly
ley, 1935), pp. 42, 56. General Winn, as he was usually called, devoted much
enthusiasm to the formation of the Native Sons of the Golden West and is
known as their founder. He also became the first president of the Sons of
Revolutionary Sires at its organization in 1876. Some three years after the
death of his wife, Catherine Gafney (or Gaffney), in 1862, he married the
widow of James King of William. Winn Park at 28th and P streets in Sacra-
mento is dedicated to his memory. General Winn's son, Adolphus
("Dolph") Gustavus Winn (b. Louisville, Ky., Sept. 8, 1832; d. Sacramento,
Sept. 2, 1910), who, with the rest of the family, had joined his father in
California in 1850, took up surveying and surveyed U. S. government land,
Catholic Church properties, and, as a member of Theodore Judah's party,
assisted in laying out the route of the Central Pacific Railroad. In 1862 he
was engineer for Swamp Land District No. 3 1 (Brannan Island), the recla-
mation of which he handled. For various terms afterwards, beginning in
1866, A. G. Winn was elected surveyor of Sacramento County. In 1867, he
married Agnes T. Hilsee (b. Philadelphia, Feb. 27, 1848; d. Sacramento,
July 16, 1936), the Society's new member being one of the six children bom
to the couple. His maternal grandfather, Joseph Warren Hilsee (b. Phila-
delphia, Mar. 1 7, 1 820; d. Colusa, Nov. 4, 1 870) , was a master brick and stone
mason, whose work in the construction of Fort Point in San Francisco and
of the capitol at Sacramento revealed his superior craftsmanship, especially
in the capitol's arches. William Watkin Winn (b. Sacramento, Mar. 4, 1874)
is ex-class of 1 896 at the University of California and has had a full life also.
It has included lumbering in the sugar pine forests along the middle fork of
the American River, and engineering work in the rehabilitation of the
Southern Pacific Railroad, after its acquisition by E. H. Harriman. Upon his
transfer to the Los Angeles division of the Southern Pacific in 1903, Mr.
Winn's duties took him into the basin of the Colorado where it overflows
into Salton Sea. From 19 14 to 1924 he was employed in the engineering de-
partment of the Northwestern Pacific Railroad, serving throughout that
road's highly diversified territory. By February 1924 he was back again with
the Southern Pacific, first in Portland and, in 1933, in Los Angeles, engaged
in field work in the construction of the Union Passenger Terminal. Mr.
Winn retired in December 1939. Since then he has done important research
into the history of the CaHfornia Society of Sons of the American Revolu-
tion, 1 876- 1946. He is a member and former officer of the California Genea-
logical Society.
(A copy of Mr. Winn's carefully compiled history of his family, from
which this sketch was derived, has been deposited with the Society.)
CALIFORNIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Incorporated March 6, 1886 Reorganized March 27, 1922
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Aubrey Drury, President
Joseph R. Knowland, First Vice-President
Morton R. Gibbons, Second Vice-President
Francis P. Farquhar, Third Vice-President
Warren Howell, Secretary
George L. Harding, Treasurer
K. K. Bechtel Allen L. Chickering Mrs. Elizabeth Gray Potter
Garner A. Beckett Ralph H. Cross Porter Sesnon
Anson S. Blake A. T. Leonard, Jr. Mrs. Daniel Volkmann
Committee on Special Publications: Francis P. Farquhar, Chairman; Allen L. Chick-
ering, William W. Clary, George L. Harding, Miss Caroline Wenzel, Carl I. Wheat,
Lynn T. White, Jr.
CoTmnittee on Membership and Publicity: Joseph R. Knowxand, Chairman; Aubrey
Drury, Henry F. Dutton, Morton R. Gibbons, Edgar M. Kahn, George H. Kress,
Miss Else Schilling, Joe G. Sweet.
Conrmittee on Luncheon Meetings: Anson S. Blake, Chairman; Mrs. Mae Helene
Bacon Boggs, Mrs. Georges de Latour, Aubrey Drury, Morton R. Gibbons, Mrs. James
Jenkins, Mrs. Gerald D. Kennedy, Mrs. Alice B. Maloney, Loren B. Taber, Mrs.
Daniel Volkmann.
Cofmnittee on 'Rooms and Exhibits: Warren Howell, Chairman; Mrs. A. J. Bancroft,
A. T. Leonard, Jr., Miss Frances M. Molera, Albert Shumate, Lee L. Stopple, Mrs.
J. J. Van Nostrand.
Conmtittee on Historic Names and Sites: A. T. Leonard, Jr., Chairman; Mrs. Mae
Helene Bacon Boggs, Clarence Coonan, Ralph H. Cross, Edgar B. Jessup.
Committee on Library and Gifts: Ralph H. Cross, Chairman; Mrs. Mae Helene
Bacon Boggs, Miss Edith Coulter, Augustin S. Macdonald, Thomas W. Norris, A. T.
Shine, Chester W. Skaggs, Mrs. J. J. Van Nostrand, Leon Whitsell.
Committee on Finance: K. K. Bechtel, Chairman; Allen L. Chickering, Francis P.
Farquhar, C. R. Tobin, Mrs. Daniel Volkmann.
Patron Members
Mrs. Wallace Alexander
Miss Edith W. Allyne
Miss Lucy H. Allyne
K. K. Bechtel
Mrs. Irving Berlin
Anson S. Blake
Mrs. M. H. B. Boggs
Mrs. William Cavalier
Allen L. Chickering
William W. Crocker
Mrs. Edward L. Doheny
Sidney M. Ehrman
Mrs. Sidney M. Ehrman
James Flood
Raymond C. Force
Miss Margaret A. Jacks
C. O. G. Miller
Henry D. Nichols
Mrs. William B. Roth
Mrs. Henry Potter Russell
Miss Else Schilling
Rudolph Schilling
Porter Sesnon
Tallant Tubes
Mrs. Daniel Volkmann
WiLLARD O. WayMAN
Mrs. John Payson Adams
Mrs. Merritt Adamson
Hugh S. Allen
Mrs. Leonora Wood Armsby
John B. F. Bacon
Philip A. Bailey
Wakefield Baker
Mrs. William P. Baker
Paul Bancroft
Philip Bancroft
Bank of America
Garner A. Beckett
Mrs. Melba Berry Bennett
Miss Hope Bliss
Leon Bocqueraz
John D. Bradley
J. R. Brehm
Mrs. Julia Fox Brooke
Mrs. Carlton Bryan
W. S. Burnett
Sustaining Members
Mrs. George Cadwalader
George T. Cameron
Mrs. Henry Cartan
Selah Chamberlain, Jr.
Harold S. Chase
Bruce Church
Mrs. Edmond D. Coblentz
Peter Cook, Jr.
Frederick C. Cordes
Mrs. Talmage Burton Crane
Ralph H. Cross
Homer D. Crotty
Mrs. Richard Y. Dakin
Edward A. Dickson
Lloyd Dinkelspiel
Mrs. Hugh T. Dobbins
Miss Christine Donohoe
T. G. Douglas
Aubrey Drury
Henry F. Dutton
Stanley A. Easton
E. W. Ehmann
Mrs. Camille J. Ehrenfels
Amos W. Elliott
Charles Elsey
Mrs. Milton H. Esberg
Harry H. Fair
Francis P. Farquhar
James Farraher
Paul B. Fay
H. G. Fenton
Roland C. Foerster
C. E. Fryer
Morton R. Gibbons, M.D.
Mrs. Frank R. Girard
Albert H. Gorie
Mrs. Joseph T. Grace
Allen Griffin
Mrs. Edward F. Haas
Gordon G. Hair
The Hudson's Bay Company in San Francisco
By Anson S. Blake
During the early years of the existence of Verba Buena, little occurs
worthy of notice. The place continued merely a village; and its history for
some years subsequent to 1841, would be simply a record of the private
business transactions of the Hudson's Bay Company^ whose agents and
people formed nearly the entire settlement. Even so lately as 1844, Verba
Buena contained only about a dozen houses^ and its permanent population
did not exceed fifty persons.^
THESE WORDS from the Annals of San Francisco were written in
1 854, thirteen years after the arrival of the company's representative,^
and by men who came in the gold rush of 1 849. They apparently did
not realize the amount of excitement and foreboding that the opening of the
company's headquarters had occasioned in the minds of American residents
in California and Honolulu. Bancroft quotes from two letters among Larkin's
files indicating the views held shortly preceding the event. The first, dated
August 3 1, 1840, is from Francis Johnson at Honolulu, where the Hudson's
Bay Company had an agency. Johnson wrote that the company was planning
to monopolize the trade in all the North Pacific; a vessel, building in Eng-
land, was to bring a cargo of goods at very low prices. However, in his
opinion, the Americans in Honolulu did not fear the competition.^
The second correspondent, Ethan Estabrook, a consular agent of the
United States at Monterey, writing on January 29, 1841, felt differently:
The H. B. Co. is playing the devil with the Cal cattle, if not with Cal. itself. They are
preparing to purchase on a large scale. Capt. Humphrey [Charles Humphreys] informs
me that they want at least 100,000 cattle and half a milhon of sheep if they can be had.
McKay, the chief hunter, is to have a grant in the Tulares of about 30 miles square.
This is destined to be the headquarters of their enterprise in the interior. About 120
hunters, well armed and discipHned, are now in the Tulares, and 40 or 50 came as
passengers in the bark [the Columbia] and proceeded from Monterey to the Tulares,
headed by McKay, to take possession of his new estate. This company is to be increased
to any number that may be judged requisite for hunting, collecting cattle, etc. It is very
easy for the govt of Cal. to admit these people within its limits; but will it be as easy to
drive them out? Pienso que no. His excellency [ Alvarado] has sold some thousand or two
of cattle of his own and from the missions, etc. There is, however, quite an excitement
above because he will not permit others to sell.*
The "grant in the Tulares" proved to be only a wild guess and the num-
bers of the trapping party much exaggerated. As to the problem of driving
out the supposed-to-be menacing foreigners, the answer will be unfolded
in this paper.
Hudson^s Bay trappers had penetrated to California in the season of
97
98 Calif ornia Historical Society Quarterly
1828-29, and from 1832 on they had trapped the Sacramento and its tribu-
taries regularly; but the idea of an interior post had never been considered
by McLoughlin, chief factor and chief of the Columbia District.^ However,
a post on San Francisco Bay began to be discussed after a very favorable
report from Alexander Simpson, who had gone on the Columbia with a
cargo of "wood" to Oahu and thence to California for a cargo of sheep
in 1840.^ Immediately, on the ship's arrival at Vancouver, and her discharge,
she was reloaded for California, and this time James Douglas, second in com-
mand of the Columbia District, went on the expedition, taking goods suited
for the trade and prepared to purchase sheep which were to be driven to
Oregon overland.'^ Douglas was also charged with the duty of negotiating
a modus vivendi with the California authorities, covering a possible mer-
cantile establishment on San Francisco Bay and the licensing of their trap-
ping parties, which were now bumping into Sutter's new establishment and
his pretensions to jurisdiction.^ On his return, Douglas reported to Mc-
Loughlin as follows:
According to your instructions, I took the earliest occasion, of entering into com-
munication with his excellency Governor Alvarado, touching the Honble. Company's
contemplated commercial views in relation to California, and you will perceive by
reference to the correspondence, vide No. i & 2, appended to this note, that the Provin-
cial Government is pledged to support and lend every assistance in their power to the
promotion of such views, provided we submit to the formalities required by the Laws
of Mexico. That is to say, on these terms, the whole trade of the country will be thrown
open to us; a free grant of land for the erection of warehouses with other privileges
will be conceded to the Company in their own name and right, within the harbour of
San Francisco. Parties of Beaver hunters may be introduced through the regular Port of
Entry, who will receive Passports, and be licensed to hunt in all parts of the uncultivated
frontier, every such person being compelled by the authorities to execute fully the con-
ditions of their agreement with the Company.^
Douglas goes on to appraise the trade of California and rates the existing
trade of San Francisco second to San Pedro and far above the other five
shipping points.^° He describes the methods of the American traders, indi-
cates that the Company's representatives will have to learn the language and
become accustomed to the peculiar manners of the people and the routine
of business pursued in California before they can compete on even terms,
but knows that the advantage of cheaper goods belongs to the Company.^^
He concludes as follows: "From the growing trade and importance of San
Francisco, I consider it the most favourable point for a mercantile house."^^
McLoughlin, on receipt of this confirmation of Alexander Simpson's re-
port, seems to have decided, immediately, to open the San Francisco estab-
lishment at once. He chose, as the man to run it, his son-in-law, William
Glen Rae.^^ In a letter dated May 24, 1841, and addressed to the governor,
deputy governor and committee of the Honorable Hudson's Bay Company,
London, is the following paragraph:
Hudson^ s Bay Company in San Francisco 99
4. The Coivelitz proceeds with a cargo of Spars, Deals, Salmon, etc. to Oahu, she
will there ship the California Outfit, proceed to that place, and from thence come here,
and will then proceed, to Oahu with a cargo of timber or to the north west Coast as
circumstances may require. Mr. W. G. Rae proceeds in the Cowelitz to take charge of
our California business, I enclose you a Copy of our instructions to him.i*
The foregoing quotations regarding the preliminary investigations and
the start of the post at San Francisco are taken from the official correspond-
ence of Chief Factor John McLoughlin, which, together with much related
matter, was published by the Champlain Society for the Hudson's Bay
Record Society in 1941, 1943, and 1944. The series was edited by E. E.
Rich, and an introduction to each volume was written by Dr. W Kaye
Lamb, librarian of the University of British Columbia and formerly of the
Provincial Archives at Victoria. These introductions are an admirable sum-
mary of the contents of the letters, and they are, besides, an invaluable
guide to the understanding of the reader because of the writer's knowledge
of, and wise selection from, the contemporary records of the company
bearing on the events dealt with in the correspondence. Dr. Lamb's appraisal
of the men and their actions seems eminently fair.
Like most Americans my knowledge of the operations of the Hudson's
Bay Company and of William Glen Rae in San Francisco has been drawn
from the writings of his American contemporaries in San Francisco, and
from the various histories of California which drew their information
largely from these same contemporaries. Although Bancroft has a statement
from Robert Birnie (who came with Rae as a clerk but did not stay long in
that capacity) and quotes frequently from original source material, includ-
ing a reproduction of part of Sir George Simpson's map, he nevertheless
uses more than once such phrases as "... I have no definite record" of the
outcome of the particular matter under discussion.^^ This prods the curi-
osity of the reader; and when, in studying the Record Society's volumes, I
happened to notice references to two letters of Rae's among the papers in
the office of the Hudson's Bay Company in London, I wrote and asked if I
might have photostatic copies of these letters. The company graciously
agreed to furnish the photostats and gave the approximate cost. When the
prints arrived, the company, in an accompanying letter, was so courteous as
to advise me that five additional letters of Rae's were in their files. The first
two had been a disappointment because one dealt with the situation at
Stikine, antedating Rae's coming to California, and the other was only an
acknowledgment of the receipt of his commission as chief trader.^® How-
ever, I determined to have the remainder of the letters and the company
kindly acquiesced once more. As a consequence, I am able to give you in
Rae's own words the narrative of the founding of the post in Yerba Buena
and an outline of the proposed method of operation. This and the follow-
ing letters are reproduced by permission of the governor and committee of
I oo California Historical Society Quarterly
the Hudson's Bay Company. In the transcriptions, no alterations in spelling
or punctuation have been made.
San Francisco
Yerba Buena
John McLoughlin Esquire 14th Octbr. 1841
Dear Sir
I had the honor to address you on the 2 2d July, shortly after the departure
of the Cowelitz from Woahoo for California, as I was aware Mr. [George]
Pelly^^ had communicated to you the state of affairs there, I confined my-
self merely to reply to the instructions and memorandum received from you
at Fort Vancouver.
2. We arrived at Monterey on the loth August, when I was happy to find
that the restriction^^ to Foreign Vessels trading on the Coast had been re-
moved, and that after clearing at the Custom House we should be at liberty
to proceed to any port on the Coast of California we chose. But though this
difficulty was removed, I experienced another, which for a time seemed to
be more serious, and occasioned several days detention; this arose from our
having Cargo on board for Vancouver and the Missionaries^^ in the Will-
amette, which by the Aiexican Laws ought to pay duty as well as that
intended for Trading, to this I objected, and also to landing the Cargo for
the Columbia, to be kept in the Custom house at Monterey till the Vessel
intended to leave the Coast, when she would call for it. finally however
matters were settled, and the ship Cleared having to pay no less than $10,965
duties, 7,460$ of which the Government inserted [insisted?] on being paid
in Cash, an amount including C[hief]. F [actor]. Douglas Bills, far exceed-
ing the means with which I was furnished, and I found myself situated, as
by memo of 2 2d July to you I anticipated. I was consequently obliged to
give a note of hand for $2,000 payable in 120 days, besides allowing a bill
p. 1,100 on a/c Puget Sound Association, in favor D. Spence to go on at
interest at 2 p. cent p. month.^^ In future I would recommend that no vessel
touching here have any Cargo on board but what is intended for Trade in
California except Salt which might pass, though not without remark.
3. We left Monterey on the 24th August and arrived here on the 27th,
in consequence of Mr. Lease's [Leese's] absence it was the 9th September
before I could make a purchase of his establishment which cost the H. B.
Company 4600$ payable in Goods, at 50 p. cent on prime Cost, Mr. Lease
being responsible for the duties.^^ This is more than he proposed selling it
to Mr. Douglas for, by 600$ which Mr. Lease explains by stating, that he
offered it to C. F. Douglas for $4000, in the firm belief that he would get
the Goods landed at Bodega free of Custom House charges," since that
time also, he has laid out $100 for improvements, and even with this aug-
mentation in price the sale is not so advantageous to him as it would have
been at $4000 had he received the Goods free of duties, which is correct.
Hudson's Bay Company in San Francisco i o i
he does not seem inclined to forward an order to Vancouver for the amount,
but would prefer taking it out here at different times, to which I acceded.
I herewith forward you, attested Copies Title deeds, and every document
connected with the transfer of J. P. Lease's property to the Hudson Bay
Company which I hope you will find satisfactory.
4. This has been the most unfavourable season for California that the
oldest inhabitant in it, recollects. Since Febry 1 840 there has been little or
no rain, and the consequence is a total failure of the Crops, the quantity
sown not being reaped, in most cases a scarcity of Grass which has so much
reduced the Cattle that the farmers are unwilling to kill them, as they would
obtain only the hide. Wheat is at present selling at from 5 and 7$ p. Fanega,
and flour at from 20 and 25 p. barrel of 200 lbs. Could the quantity I ask in
the requisition now forwarded be sent here before the Crops of '42 are ripe
it would command a ready sale.
5. In consequence of the total failure of the Crops as stated in foregoing
paragraph, I have not been able to send you any wheat,^^ the Contracts
made by C. F. Douglas were only conditional, and if they had been binding
it is not in the power of the Farmers to fulfill them this Season, if the
Crops in the Columbia have been likewise unfavorable I am afraid the Com-
pany will be awkwardly situated as regards their Contract^* with the Rus-
sian American Fur Company at Valpariaso I believe wheat could be pro-
cured, but the Russians have tried to bring it from that quarter, and generally
lost it, for the want of means to kiln dry the grain, before shipment.
6. The prospects of Trade on the Coast for the reasons already stated, are
poor in the extreme, next season however, as there has been little or none
killing this, the slaughter of Cattle will be greater than usual, when I have
little doubt the Company will come in for a share of the Spoil.
7. If it be the Companys wish to drive a profitable business here, and
put down competition, they must embark more extensively in the Trade
than at present, besides this establishment, a vessel to run the different
Ports on the Coast would be required, apart from a greater supply of goods.
Cash to the amount of 20,000 or at 30,000$ annually, would be necessary,
with this sum purchasing half in Cash & half in Goods, the trade ought
almost entirely be engrossed, and the Company would in that case require
to give little or no Credit which is a great consideration, this is what the
Traders on the Coast most fear from the Hudson Bay Company, as it would
draw the Hides and Tallow from even the Farmers who are indebted to
them, whereas Goods alone would not. But it appears to me that purchasing
hides for Cash, at four to 2$ each, which in England generally will realize
15/Sterling each, would be a profitable speculation, particularly when it is
taken into consideration that in this way of dealing no Credit is given.
8. According to your instructions, I have got a Salting trough built,
though at the same time I think this by no means a favorable situation for
1 02 California Historical Society Quarterly
that purpose, owing to the great prevalence of fogs here during the summer
season, which prevents the hides from getting sufficiently dry, to be shipped
for a long voyage. I am of course only giving you such information as I
receive on this subject and it may be incorrect, we will therefore try this
place, and in the event of not succeeding it will not be difficult to remove
the salting Estabt to Sta Clara, where most of the hides are Collected, and
where there is a Clear atmosphere.^^
9. In my communication to you after leaving Woahoo I stated that it
was impossible to procure Casks there for salting Beef,^*^ and in business, in
the manner recommended, I feel satisfied it will be but so much time and
money thrown away, nevertheless I should have altered [adhered?] to
your orders, had I not received particular request. Pedro Ristromtinoff
[Kostromitinof] Governor of Bodega, by Alexander Rotcheff Esqre late
Governor of that place, that as he had 400 Tierces already cured,^'^ intended
for Sitka, it would be quite unnecessary for the Hudson Bay Company, to
prepare any more for that place at present, under these circumstances I
have thought it most advisable, not to Salt till I hear further from you.
Another reason is the low condition of the Cattle, the meat would be
scarcely eatable, were it cured well, which I shall despair of succeeding in
untill I receive for the purpose. I sincerely trust the course I have followed
in this case will meet your approbation, though aware I have exposed myself
to Censure by not following strictly the Instructions I received from you.
I have taken out of the Cowelitz Cargo 350 barrels Salt for curing Beef
and hides.
10. Alexander Rotcheff Esquire of the Russian American Fur Company,
offered to dispose of 450 salted hides for Cash, or a Bill on England, the first
I had not to give and therefore though not authorised took upon myself to
purchase them at i !^ $ each and have drawn on you for the sum of 675$
payable by a bill on England at 4/2 Stlg Exchange, equal 4/3 Sterling p.
hide. Captain [William] Brotchie is directed to touch at Bodega on his way
to the Columbia to receive them. I would have drawn on Mr. Pelly [see note
17 above] at Woahoo, but I have already been under the necessity of send-
ing to him for $4000 to enable me to pay off Mr. Spence's Bill, which is
bearing a high rate of Interest, and to meet my promissory Note of $2000
for the duties when it becomes due.
11. I omitted asking your permission to draw on London to a hundred
extent annually. I now however beg that you will give me authority to do
so, and inform me to what amount by the earliest opportunity as it might
turn out not only advantageous but absolutely necessary.
12. I have endeavoured to make contracts for Wheat at the prices hith-
erto given by the Company viz. i % $ on the Farms or 2$ if delivered here but
without effect, except in the instance of Governor Alvarado, who has prom-
ised to deliver 1000 fngs. from the Crops of '42, deliverable at Monterey ist
Hudson' sBay Company in San Francisco 103
September 1842, in liquidation of an Advance made him of $2000 at his
particular request, which at that time I did not consider it political to refuse.
The Farmers are at present suffering from a want of Grain, & are not
desirous to make positive agreements.
1 3. On examining the a/c Sales now forwarded I have no doubt as far as
prices are concerned they will generally give you satisfaction, indeed they
are higher than any other vessel on the Coast. I will nevertheless continue
them at this rate till I see or hear from you. My own opinion is that if you
wish to drive an extensive business and put down competition, a reduction
ought to be made, which with Cash and Goods together would give you the
whole sweep of the Coast.^^
14. Notwithstanding the unfavorable season after my arrival in Yerba
Buena I found it necessary to employ Mr. Forbes^^ who really seems to feel
much interest in the Company success in this quarter, and has been of great
service to me from his knowledge of the language and acquaintance rather,
the stability of the Resident as well as the laws of the Country. I have at
present only a Verbal agreement with him that he will be paid at the rate
of 5 p. cent as hitherto on his own Sales with which he seems satisfied.
15. I herewith also forward a requisition for this place every article of
which that can be supplied from Vancouver or Woahoo ought to be here
in May or by the ist of June at latest but the earlier the better, and the rest
ordered from England as mentioned in the Requisition. I would by no means
recommend your countermanding the order for Cash in the Requisition for
CaHf ornia for Outfit 1 844 as it is absolutely required to carry on the busi-
ness here.^^
16. I endeavoured to get permission for the Company's Vessels on the
homeward voyage to touch in here to embark hides, without going to
Monterey but did not succeed.^^ Gov. Alvarado said it was not in his power
to Grant such liberty without exposing himself to Censure.
17. There has been no less than 1 3 vessels on the Coast this year [see note
68 below], the duties paid on Goods entered, amount to about $70,000 so
that you may readily imagine the market is pretty well stocked. The Traders
will sustain a serious loss as throughout California there will not be 40,000
hides collected this season.
18. I left with you a memorandum concerning the description of Craft I
thought would be most suitable for the bay of San Francisco, on reperusal
I see nothing that ought to be altered, except the rig which instead of Sloop,
ought to be that of a Schooner, she ought not to draw more than from 3 to
4 feet Water, when loaded a small flat bottomed boat ought to accompany
her, which would be most serviceable in reaching the shore often when the
Launch could not. she ought to be here before the beginning of June '42
as we cannot get on without one.^^
19. I was sorry to find on arrival at Monterey that all the thin Shoes for
1 04 California Historical Society Quarterly
this trade brought out p. Wave [a chartered schooner] were so rotten, I
threw them overboard rather than forego the duties, and the stronger
descriptions very much damaged which has obliged me to sell them lower
than I would otherwise have done. The Cargo altogether was in a worse
order than any I ever saw landed by the Company's Vessels in Vancouver
[see note 65 below].
20. There is an American Trader here of the name of Teel [Teal] who
wishes with many others to sell out.^^ he has got a very excellant assortment
of Mexican Goods which we would require to complete ours to the amount
of $8,000 he has frequently applied to me, but having no Authority I
could not give him a decisive answer, until I saw or heard from you. He
would prefer a Bill on England to Cash, and closing with him would put a
Competition out of the way and supply us at a remunerating rate with mer-
chandise, which cannot be procured in England & could be turned to ad-
vantage here have the Goodness to let me know your sentiments on this
subject by earliest opportunity.
21. General Vallejo has a note of C[hief]. F [actor]. Douglas on a/c
Puget Sound Association p. 838^8$ distinctly expressed payable in Goods
which he disputes saying that he understood he could get a Bill on England
for that amount to which I will not consent, unless I receive orders to do so,
as I think the General is trying to take an under advantage.^* It will not how-
ever be good policy to quarrel with him. he is reported as being very diffi-
cult generally to deal with.
22. I forward p. Cowelitz to Vancouver some Glass, lops and steelyards
as p. Invoice which are not very saleable here, and which were not entered
at Monterey, on my assuring the Custom Officers they were intended for
the Columbia.
23. In conclusion I have only to remark that whether my proceedings
meet your approbation or not, my desire has been to promote the Com-
pany's Interest, and if I have failed in so doing it has arisen from a mistaken
view, or because I do not fully understand the ulterior intentions of the
Company regarding the trade in this Country.
On reverse: I have the honor to be
Copy Sir
W G. Rae Your Obedient humble Servant
YBuena Octr. 12/41 [signed] William Glen Rae [rubric]
Reed Jany 9/44 ^
Read " loth
While Rae was busy at Monterey with custom-house and other govern-
ment officials, Sir George Simpson, governor-in-chief of the company's
territories in North America, had arrived at Fort Vancouver, where he had
not been for twelve years. With characteristic energy he almost immediately
Hudson'' s Bay Company in San Francisco 105
began a tour,^^ in the company's steamer Beaver, of the posts to the north-
ward along the coast, and of the narrow strip of Russian territory that the
Hudson's Bay Company had recently leased from the Russian American
Company.^® From the northernmost post, the party proceeded to Sitka for
a conference with the Russians.
On this journey Simpson came to the conclusion that the company could
reduce its expenditures without sacrificing its trade by eliminating most of
its trading stations.^^ He also took cognizance of a suggestion made earlier
by Douglas that a new post on the southern end of Vancouver Island be
established, where goods could be landed from London much closer to the
point of use and without trans-shipment from Fort Vancouver. ^^ On this
trip Simpson saw that from such a post the steamer Beaver could have an
inside passage all the way to the upper end of the Russian lease and could be
made a floating emporium to replace the posts. Probably he also had in mind
that the United States boundary question could not be settled at a line south
of the Columbia, and might be run north of that river.^^ It therefore was
wise to be prepared with a post to replace Fort Vancouver. Such a post
would eliminate the very hazardous navigation of the Columbia River bar,
where several company vessels had been lost and where they were often
bar-bound for weeks together.*^
These statements may seem to have little bearing on Rae and the Hudson's
Bay Company establishment in San Francisco; but the foregoing determina-
tions ran counter to the views of McLoughlin as to the proper conduct of
the business and were vigorously opposed by him. The disagreement be-
tween the two men later attained almost feud proportions and the San Fran-
cisco establishment became involved.*^
Simpson did not stay long at Fort Vancouver after his return from the
northern trip. He soon boarded the company bark Cowlitz, in company
with John McLoughlin and other company officials, Horatio Hale of the
United States Exploring Expedition, M. Duflot de Mofras, and Mrs. Rae
(the daughter of McLoughlin) and her children, and sailed for San Fran-
cisco, whence he was to go to Honolulu and Sitka and back to London
across Siberia. He has left a two volume account of the journey, published
under the title Narrative of a ]ourney Round the World^^
(To be concluded)
NOTES
(In these notes, idem indicates same work, same vol. as in preceding reference; ibid.,
same work and vol. as shown.)
1. Frank Soule, John Gihon and James Nisbet, Annals of San Francisco (New York,
1855), p. 173.
2. This was in Aug. 1841. "Not only," says Bancroft in a summary for that year, "did
1 06 California Historical Society Quarterly
the Russian American Company depart, but the Enghsh Hudson's Bay Company came
in its stead to effect a permanent establishment, to continue hunting operations . . . and,
as many feared, to monopohze the Cahfornia trade." (History of California, San Fran-
cisco, 1884-90, IV, 190.)
3. lde?n, p. 211, n. 12.
4. Idem, p. 214, n. 18. As to a grant of land, see James Douglas (after conference with
Gov. J. B. Alvarado) to McLoughlin, March 23, 1841, in The Letters of John McLaugh-
lin . . . , hereinafter called Letters (London, 1941-44), II, 252, quoted later in this paper.
See also George Simpson to John H. Pelly, March 10, 1842, in "Letters of Sir George
Simpson, 1841-1843," American Hist. Rev., XIV (Oct. 1908), 89, where the people of
California are said to be "willing to place themselves and their country at the disposal of
Great Britain."
5. The expeditions after 1824 are listed in Herbert E. Bolton's introduction to AHce
Bay Maloney, Fur Brigade to the Bonaventura, John Work's California Expedition,
1832-^^ (this Society, Sp. Publ. 19, 1935), p. v. For an account of Dr. John McLoughlin's
life (b. Riviere-du-Loup, St. Lawrence River, Oct. 19, 1784; d. Oregon City, Sept. 3,
1857) and services to the Hudson's Bay Company, hereinafter called H. B. Co., see Dr.
Lamb's introductions to the Letters, I, xxix ff ; II, xi-xlix; and III, xi-lxiii. McLoughlin
became an American citizen in May 1849.
6. McLoughlin to the Governor, Deputy Governor & Committee, Honorable Hud-
son's Bay Co., hereinafter called Gov. et. al. May 23, 1840, Letters, II, 8; and same to
same, Nov. 20, 1840, idem, p. 20. Alexander Simpson's report to McLoughlin on this
subject (dated Oct. i, 1840) may be found in idern, p. 244: ". . . In this Port [San Fran-
cisco] more than half the exports of Calefornia [sic, here and frequently elsewhere] are
collected and as yet only one small retail Shop is established there, the Trade being
carried on by vessels . . ." Alexander Simpson was a first cousin of George Simpson and
a brother of the Arctic explorer Thomas Simpson. (Idem, p. 404-406, biog. sketch.)
7. McLoughlin to Gov. et al, Nov. 20, 1840 (Letters, II, 28); also, Douglas to Mc-
Loughlin, March 23, 1841 (idein, p. 256), where the prices paid are said to have been $5
and $6 a head for 661 cows, and $2 a head for 3670 ewes, payable in equal amounts of
goods and cash. A biog. sketch of James Douglas (b. British Guiana (?), June 5 (?),
1803; d. Victoria, British Columbia, Aug. 2, 1877) is given in the Letters, III, 309-14.
Both McLoughlin and Douglas were in the service of the North West Company before
its coalition with the H. B, Co. in 1821. Douglas became governor of British Columbia
in 1858 and was created Knight Commander of the Bath upon the expiration of his term
in 1863. Appreciation of Douglas' character is shown by Bancroft, op. cit., IV, 212-13,
n. 13.
8. See Alexander Simpson to McLoughlin, Oct. i, 1840 (Letters, II, 240-41), in which
Simpson states that Sutter had told him he had "obtained from the Civil Government a
right to exclude all Trapping Parties"; that he had been named for that purpose Alcalde
of the Frontier. Simpson adds, however, that "his appointment is not acknowledged by
the Military Commandant and he avowed to me that he had neither the will nor the
power to interfere with our trapping Party."
9. Excerpt from Douglas to McLoughlin, March 23, 1841, Letters, II, 252.
10. Idejn, p. 253. The other shipping points were Monterey, Santa Barbara, San Pedro,
San Diego, San Luis Mission-La Purissima.
11. Bancroft, op. cit., IV, 215-16, quotes from Douglas, "Voyage from the Columbia
to California, 1840-1" (MS in Bancroft Library), on the requirements for a permanent
trading-post in California.
12. Douglas to McLoughlin, March 23, 1841, Letters, II, 255.
13. William Glen Rae (b. Stromness, Orkney, c. 1809; d. San Francisco, Jan. 19, 1845)
Hudson'' s Bay Company in San Francisco 1 07
began service with the H. B. Co. in 1827. Though handicapped by the loss of sight in one
eye through an accident during the 1827-28 season, he was considered "a rising man in
the country," and by 1840 we find him in charge of Stikine after its acquisition by his
company from the Russian American Co. The next year came his appointment to San
Francisco, which he had ahready visited in the late summer of 1837 as supercargo of the
Cadboro with "an adventure of goods for the Calefornia market." (Douglas to George
Simpson, March 18, 1838, Letters, I, 278.) Rae's wife was Eloisa, the second daughter of
John McLoughlin, whom he married in 1838. A biog. sketch of Rae appears in Letters, I,
353-54. As to Rae's appearance, McLoughlin, in speaking of the rough character of the
personnel at Stikine, declared that his (McLoughlin's) son and Rae, "being stout men,"
were considered able to manage them (McLoughlin to Gov. et al, Oct. 31, 1842, ibid.,
II, 88). Thomas O. Larkin (Alta California, Aug. 27, 1854) described Rae as having
been "of large size, robust and healthy." However, it will be seen that in his letter of
Nov. I, 1842, transcribed later in this paper, he speaks of being "so long confined in bed."
"William Heath Davis, Sixty Years in California (San Francisco, 1889), pp. 116, 119,
remembered Rae as "tall and handsome, and much of a gentleman . , . His table was
always finely supplied with the best of everything. . . . He and Spear were the chief
entertainers."
14. Quotation from McLoughlin to Gov. et al. May 24, 1841 (Letters, II, 35). Since
1835, timber had always been kept ready for the Honolulu trade when a vessel should
be available. (Same to same, Oct. 31, 1837, ibid., I, 204.) At the time of this letter
200,000 ft. of sawn wood were on hand. "Deals" are planks; standard size, 2Y2 in. thick,
II in. broad, 12 ft. long. For the beginnings of the trade in salted salmon from the
Columbia in 1827, see ibid., I, Ixxiii. The barque Coivlitz, built in 1840, was of the same
class and dimensions as the Columbia and the Vancouver. (McLoughlin to Gov. et al,
May 24, 1841, ibid., II, 35, n. 2.)
15. Bancroft, op. cit., IV, 214. For Bimie's statement, see idem, p. 217, n. 23. Birnie was
sent with Rae by McLoughlin, but George Simpson discharged him, preferring Mont-
rose McGillivray, whom McLoughlin considered dissipated. (McLoughlin to Gov. et al,
July 19, 1845, Letters, III, 79-80.) A section of Simpson's map and quotations from his
book (see note 17 below) may be found in Bancroft, op. cit., IV, 218-22; and quotations
from James Douglas' journal of his voyage (see note 11 above) occur between pp.
211-14.
16. Rae's appointment to a "commission in the Service," dated Dec. i, 1841, is ac-
knowledged by him from Yerba Buena to William Smith (sec'y of the H. B. Co., Lon-
don) on Nov. I, 1842; the news of the appointment had reached him on Oct. 29, 1842.
17. George Pelly was a cousin of Sir John Henry Pelly (first baronet, and governor
of the company, 1822-52). Letters, II, 401. In his letter to the Gov. et al, Oct. 24, 1839,
idem, p. 4, McLoughlin speaks well of George Felly's management of the H. B. Co.'s
business in Oahu; and he instructed Rae to draw on Pelly & Allan (see note 79 below)
when he needed funds "to keep the business agoing" (idein, p. 57, par. 79). Sir George
Simpson in his Narrative of a Journey Round the World during the Years 1841 and 1842
(London: Henry Colburn, 1847; also called An Overland Journey Round the World . • .,
Philadelphia, Lea & Blanchard, same year; citations in this paper are to Narrative, Lon-
don ed.), I, 433, mentions a visit he paid to Pelly in Hawaii.
18. For Alvarado's restrictions on shipping, see Bancroft, op. cit., IV, 206 ff; also,
James Douglas to Gov. et al, Oct. 18, 1838, Letters, I, 249-51; and same to same, Oct. 14,
1839, where Douglas speaks of "despair of ever succeeding by the plain and direct course
. . . and as a last resource I now intend to try the expedient adopted by the Russians
settled at Bodega, who sail their vessels under cover of licences taken out in the name of
1 08 California Historical Society Quarterly
a citizen. . . ." (Letters, II, 206.) See likewise Douglas to Mc Loughlin, March 23, 1841,
ideTn, 251-53.
19. For the missionaries and the sites of their establishments in the Columbia District,
see McLoughlin to Gov. et al, Dec. 4, 1843, Letters, II, 191. Bancroft, History of the
Northwest Coast (San Francisco, 1884), I, 550, points out that "The Hudson's Bay Com-
pany's charter required of it the encouragement of missionary effort."
20. The Puget's Sound Agricultural Co. (capital stock 2000 shares of £100 each),
which was under the protection and auspices of the H. B. Co. although legally separate,
was founded in Feb. 1839 to meet the problem of furnishing wheat, flour, beef, etc., in
fulfillment of the H. B. Co.'s obhgation to the Russian American Co. {Letters, III, xiii,
xvii) . See McLoughlin to Gov. et al, Nov. 20, 1840, Letters, II, 16, continuation of note 2,
for its history and its dissolution in 1934; and Simpson to Gov. et al, Nov. 25, 1841, in
American Hist. Rev., op. cit., 78, for description of site of its "principal tillage farm."
See also Bancroft, Northwest Coast, op. cit., II, 618-19.
David Spence of Monterey, secretly a supporter of Alvarado, served as interpreter
for James Douglas; he is said to have exerted quietly much influence in municipal and
legislative matters. Bancroft. Hist, of California, op. cit., IV, 212. Simpson in his letter to
McLoughlin, March i, 1842, quoted later, calls Spence one of the "very few other re-
spectable people in that quarter [CaHfornia]. . . ."
21. See Bancroft, op. cit., IV, 710, for Leese's erection of a store on the beach at
Verba Buena in 1837, at first in partnership with Spear and Hinckley (see note 84 below) .
Leese's wife was Rosalia, sister of Gen. M. G. Vallejo. Thomas P. Bums, "The History
of a Montgomery Street Lot . . .", this Quarterly, XI (March 1932), pp. 69-71, includes
transcription of a letter, dated Dec. 6, 1843, from Rae to Gov. Manuel Micheltorena,
asking permission to keep the "fabrick" (hide house) and fence he (Rae) had built on
land in excess of his original purchase from Leese (Lot N. i). The upshot was that,
through the intercession of Hinckley (see note 84 below), alcalde at that time, Rae
secured 8 varas (22 ft.) of Montgomery St. frontage @ 9 cts a ft. Bancroft, ideTn, 667-68,
quotes from the "Journal of Henry A. Peirce," entry for Nov. 30, 1841, in which Rae's
purchase is called the best of the "not more than half a dozen houses. ... It is built of
wood, shingled, etc., and of the old-fashioned Dutch form." (See note 72 below, where
Peirce, spelled by McLoughlin "Pierce," is quoted as a member of the firm of Peirce &
Brewer, Honolulu merchants.) Thomas O. Larkin (Alta California, Aug. 27, 1854)
called it "the first two-story wooden house in this city." Mrs. Rae (quoted by Bancroft,
op. cit., IV, 668) speaks of its length and the arrangement of the rooms.
Leese's absence, which Rae says delayed the purchase of his house, may be accounted
for by the fact that in 1841 Leese was grantee of Huichica at Sonoma, where he went to
live and do business. (Bancroft, idem, p. 217.)
22. Bodega was a free port belonging to Russia, and goods entered there were, sup-
posedly, free of custom-house charges; Josiah Spalding, master of the American ship
Lausan?ie, found otherwise. (Bancroft, op. cit., IV, 171-72.) For the sale of Fort Ross,
see note 27 below.
23. McLoughlin informed the Gov. et al on May 24, 1841, that he had given instruc-
tions to Rae to purchase wheat in California, to serve "as a reserve in case of need, and
besides if the usual high prices of Flour in California continue, of two dollars p. aroba
say 26 English lbs. (they have no water mills, and their horse mills are of the most rude
Construction) we will grind the wheat into Flour, and export it for sale to California"
(Letters, II, 38). The "precarious" nature of the California wheat supply was noted by
the governor of Sitka in 1836 when he expressed his desire to get 4-5000 bushels from the
Columbia District, delivered at Fort Simpson, at 2% to 2V2 dollars p. fanega of 140 lbs.
(Duncan Finlayson to McLoughlin, Sept. 29, 1836, Letters, I, 333.)
Hudson's Bay Company in San Francisco 1 09
24. On Feb. 6, 1839, Sir George Simpson made a contract with the Russian American
Co., through Baron Ferdinand Wrangell, at Hamburgh, whereby the H. B. Co. was to
provide the Russian company annually for 10 years with certain agricultural products
(McLoughlin to Gov. et al, Nov. 20, 1840, Letters, II, 25, n. 3; also, same to same, June 24,
1842, explaining supplement to contract, ide?n, p. 54, n. 2; and Simpson's Narrative, I,
270). In his letter to McLoughlin dated March 3, 1842, Simpson said that all demands
upon the H. B .Co. for grain (see note 20 above) should be met in the Columbia area
"without rendering it necessary to go to California for supplies. . . ." (Letters, II, 278.)
On Nov. 15, 1843, we find McLoughHn writing to the Gov. et al that although Willamette
wheat was more expensive (4s. 6d. per imperial bushel), it was superior to California
wheat (3s. 9p.), because the latter was "neither so clean nor so heavy. . . ." (Idem, pp.
124-25.) Douglas had brought McLoughlin a sample of California wheat which was
f "Extremely Dirty" (McLoughlin to Gov. et al, June 24, 1842, idem, p. 55). Two bushels
of wheat were said to be equal to a fanega, and by the contract with the Russians, a
fanega was to weigh 126 lbs. (McLoughlin to Sir George, March 7, 1841, ide?n, p. 260.)
Foreseeing the difficulties of exact measurement, Douglas observed in his journal in the
winter of 1840-41, that "we should also have 400 bags of twilled sacking holding exactly
a fanega when tied, as the country people have no means of transporting grain from their
farms to the store." (Bancroft, op. cit., IV, p. 216.)
25. For the "duties of hide-curing," see R. H. Dana, Jr., Tivo Years Before the Mast
(New York: F. M. Lupton, [1840]), pp. 142-44. Sir George Simpson quotes this passage
in his Narrative, I, 291-92. Unalloyed sunshine and salt water were irreduceable ingredi-
ents, the sea-water being reinforced with quantities of salt. The busiest time of the trade
in California was from the latter part of June to mid-September, according to Alexander
Simpson, writing to McLoughlin, Oct. i, 1840 (Letters, II, 243). During those months,
obviously, Santa Clara would be superior, in respect to absence of fog, to Yerba Buena,
which George Simpson found "least adapted in point of situation and climate for an
Establishment" (Simpson to McLoughlin, March 3, 1842, quoted later in this paper.)
Douglas was so delighted with the Salinas and Santa Clara valleys, on his way from
Monterey to San Francisco, that he had pronounced California "a country in many re-
spects unrivaled by any other part of the globe." (Bancroft, quoting Douglas, op. cit.,
IV, 212).
As to the H. B. Co.'s salt requirements, McLoughlin advised the Gov. et al on Oct. 6,
1825, that one of the company's vessels should take on at the Sandwich Islands as much
salt "as she could carry"; salt made in the Columbia District would be more expensive
(Letters, I, 20-21). The next year, he recommended the exchange of 40 or 50 barrels of
Columbia Salmon at Monterey "for all the Salt we want . . ." (same to same, Sept. i,
1826, idem, p. 37). It was brought also from England (same to same, Sept. 30, 1835, idem^
p. 139).
26. The lack of casks had been remarked upon the year before by Alexander Simp-
son, who wrote to McLoughlin on Oct. i, 1840, from Oahu about "the impossibility of
procuring there Casks for Beef [;] the like impossibility existed both at Monterey and
San Francisco. . . ." To this, he said, was added the scarcity of labor in California
(Letters, II, 238). By March i, 1842, barrel staves were being collected "at the Will-
amette falls and other parts of that Settlement," in such quantity as to be noted by
George Simpson in his letter of that date to McLoughlin, from which fact Sir George
had inferred that the Americans there were going actively into the salmon-curing busi-
ness (idem, p. 265).
On the subject of curing meat, complaints about its "unsound state" prompted the
Gov. et al to write to McLoughlin on Dec. 21, 1842, a year after Rae's communication
transcribed here, that they would "endeavor to send by the next ship ... a person
1 1 o California Historical Society Quarterly
acquainted with the mode of curing meat for exportation . . ." (Letters, II, 299). The
packing of salmon had been unsatisfactory, also; according to Sir George the casks
"appear weak and badly coopered, so that the fish is injured by the loss of brine"
(Simpson to McLoughlin, March i, 1842, idem, p. 265).
27. Tierce (hterally, a third part) is a cask intermediate in size between a barrel and
a hogshead. Some three years after Rae made this referenc to the supplying of beef to
Sitka, McLoughhn wrote to the Gov. et al that the barque Columbia was scheduled to
deliver 100 tierces there on her first voyage of that year (July 4, 1844, Letters, II, 197)
Peter Kostromitenof was manager of Bodega and Fort Ross for the Russian American
Co., 1829-36, and agent in 1840-41 in settling up the Russian business in California.
Alexander Rotchef, who succeeded Kostromitenof as manager during 1836-41, negoti-
ated for the sale of the Russian property, the land excepted, to Sutter, formal signatures
being affixed on Dec. 13. Through his purchase, Sutter obligated himself to furnish the
Russians with annual installments of wheat, delivered at San Francisco, free of duties
and tonnage. (Bancroft, op cit., IV, 163-64, 179-80, 233, 703; see also Simpson's Narrative,
I, 268-70.) Simpson wrote to the Gov. et al on Nov. 25, 1841, detailing the reasons for
not purchasing the property for the H. B. Co. {Am. Hist. Rev., op. cit., p. 77) ; on March
10, 1842, he wrote to Pelly that the sale of this property to Sutter "was effected previ-
ously to my arrival, otherwise it is probable I should have made a purchase of the
establishment for the Hudson's Bay Company with a view to the possibility of some
claim being based thereon by Great Britain at a future period" {idem, p. 88).
28. The year before, Alexander Simpson in his letter of Oct. i, 1840, to McLoughlin,
recommending "an Establishment in the Port of San Francisco," had said: "A strong
desire is expressed by all, except those engaged in the Trade, that the company or some
other Body of Weight and respectability should engage in the Commerce on the Coast
and thus reduce the present exorbitant price of Goods." He recommended an outfit of
about £4000, consisting chiefly of cottons, which would occupy but little space in the
ships from England. {Letters, II, 243-44.)
29. Simpson in his Narrative, I, 304, spoke of Forbes as ". . . living near the mission
of San Jose de Guadalupe, and acting, in that neighborhood, as an agent of The Hudson's
Bay Company, to whom we were much indebted during our stay, not only for his
general politeness, but also for his special assistance as interpreter." Forbes, a Scotsman,
had come to San Francisco from South America, in 1830 or '31. He married the daughter
of Juan C. Galindo (grantee and claimant of San Jose Mission land), and at the time of
his marriage in 1834 was 27 years old. Forbes assumed the office of British vice-consul
in Oct. 1843 (Bancroft, op. cit., IV, 743).
30. Six months previously, Douglas had written to McLoughlin (March 23, 1841)
giving the price of produce, "which has from time immemorial remained fixed at 2
Dollars in Goods or i Vz in Cash, for Hides, & i Vi Dollars in Goods pr. Arroba of 26 lbs.
of Tallow" {Letters, II, 254). Sir George Simpson, writing on March i, 1842, with respect
to the California business, stated that he "must put an unqualified negative on the draw-
ing of funds for cash purchases . . ." {idem, 267). This restated Alex. Simpson's advice
in his letter to McLoughlin dated Oct. i, 1840, that in future "all Bills drawn on our
vessels should be expressed 'payable in Goods' . . ." {idem, p. 239).
31. Governor Alvarado's order, directing foreign vessels to discharge their cargoes
and pay duties at Monterey, was issued in Jan. 1841, with the object of prohibiting the
coasting trade. Douglas, upon his arrival at Monterey, Jan. i of that year, remonstrated
the law's appHcation at that early date, and succeeded in getting his cargo entered under
the former custom-house regulations (Douglas to McLoughlin, March 23, 1841, Letters,
II, 251-52). Bancroft {op. cit., IV, 207) relates that in July of that year the Boston ship
Tasso and a schooner, on the point of departing from Monterey when they heard the
Hudson's Bay Company in San Francisco 1 1 1
restrictive edict, brought the government to terms at the thought of the loss of $20,000
in duties.
32. Among his recommendations for the San Francisco post, previously cited, Alex-
ander Simpson had mentioned the need of "a couple of Launches or Lighters . . .
which would more than cover the expense of the Establishment" {Letters, II, 244) . By
his opposition to providing Rae with a craft of some kind, George Simpson laid himself
open to McLoughlin's charge to the Gov. et al on Nov. 15, 1843, that because of "not
having had a vessel to run along the Coast, the business at San Francisco has not had a
fair trial" {idem, p. 122). It might be pointed out that private operators like Nathan
Spear used two lighters in connection with their business.
33. Hiram Teal was a New Englander who brought a stock of goods from Mazatlan
and kept a store in San Francisco, 1841-43. He was associated with Rufus Titcomb,
another New Englander. (Bancroft, op. cit., V, 744, 748.)
34. Two years, to the day, before Rae wrote this letter to McLoughlin, Douglas had
reported to the Gov. et al concerning "the capricious enmity of General Vallejo" in
connection with Laframboise's party of trappers {Letters, II, 219). Douglas' note, which
Rae says Vallejo exhibited, was evidently in payment of the general's share in the con-
tracts entered into by Alexander Simpson and which the latter handed to McLoughlin
in his letter of Oct. i, 1840 {idem, 238-39); they were "payable in Goods, and deliver-
able at the Port of San Francisco." See note 20, above, for the Puget's Sound Association.
35. Sir George Simpson, Narrative, I, 173 ff. He was gone from London 19 months,
26 days.
36. This strip of territory, called descriptively the lisiere, was a 30-mile border of the
continental shore from Portland Inlet to Cape Spencer at the northwest point of the
entrance to Icy Strait or Cross Sound. George Davidson, The Alaska Boundary (San
Francisco: Alaska Packers Assoc, 1903), pp. 93, 108. It extended a distance of about 350
miles {Letters, II, xii). For the major provisions of the lease of the lisiere, see Letters,
II, 25, note 3; and 27, notes i, 2.
37. Fort Simpson (now Port Simpson, 54.25 N, 1 30.10 W, and established first by Peter
S. Ogden on the Nass River in 183 1) was alone excepted from the proposed closing of all
the H. B. Co. posts in the north {Letters, II, xv) .
38. Douglas' report on a post at the southern end of Vancouver Island was trans-
mitted by McLoughhn to the Gov. et al in his letter dated Oct. 31, 1842 {Letters, II, 80).
39. For the chronological particulars of the "Oregon Question," leading to the sign-
ing of the boundary treaty between Great Britain and the United States— by the Presi-
dent on June 18, 1846, and the Queen on July 17 of that year— see Bancroft, History of
the Northwest Coast, op. cit., II, chapters xv-xvii.
40. Examples of the loss of ships on the Columbia bar were the U. S. sloop of war
Peacock on July 17, 1841 {Letters, II, 41); and the barque Vancouver on May 7, 1848
{ide?n, p. 141, n. i).
41. McLoughlin's objections to the plan of abandoning the H. B. Co.'s northern posts
are given in his letter to the Gov. et al, Oct. 31, 1842 {Letters, II, 70-71) . They reinforce
his previously expressed opinion to same (May 24, 1841, idem, p. 39), where Douglas is
said to have recommended in Oct. 1840 a new post on the northern end of Vancouver
Island; and in which McLoughlin advances his own idea of an intercommunicating
sailing ship instead of the more expensively operated and unreliable steamer. Dr. Lamb's
comments on the question may be found, idem, p. xlviii.
As to their disagreement over the California post: Aside from the excerpts given later
in this paper, one instance of the feud-Hke character of their differences is mentioned
by Dr. Lamb wherein Simpson asked McLoughlin to hand him "a copy of any instruc-
tions you may have received from me ... in reference to the formation of that estab-
1 1 2 California Historical Society Quarterly
lishment." This, says Dr. Lamb, as Simpson well knew, McLoughlin could not do
(Letters, III, xxv). There is also McLoughlin's reminder to the Gov. et al, Nov. i8, 1843,
"that it was Sir George Simpson who proposed the Outfit to Calefornia, I immediately
objected, as I foresaw we would not be allowed, to carry it on, as it ought to be; . . .
we begin a thing one day, it is hardly begun, but it is dropped . . ." (Letters, II, 173).
42. Bibliographical data on Simpson's book are given in note 17 above. In his party
upon leaving London were his secretary, Mr. Hopkins, and four or five gentlemen con-
nected with the H. B. Co., and a gentleman in the service of the Russian American Co.,
en route from St. Petersburg to Sitka. See his Vol. I, 253, for names of persons accom-
panying him to San Francisco.
Larkin to Atherton
Edited by A. T. Leonard, Jr., M.D.*
F. D. Atherton^ Esq Monterey Oct. 21. 1 848
Dear Friend
Its rather to long since I had a letter from you, supposing there are Some
on the way. I shall now write a short letter— I am aquainted with a Mr
Bordon, in San F. Supercargo of the J. R. S.^ [undecipherable] last sum-
mer made a fine Voyage via S. F. next month he expects a larger Cargo,
if it comes as he expect I believe the owners will make ioo,ooo|. I have
twice given you an a/c of the Sacramento Placer.^ its now known 300 to
400 miles long, 100 or more wide. I have been there twice, at stoping places
to eat & refresh horses, on the branches of the San Jouqine,* I have [seen]
some of my companions — step to the river, pick up a pan of sand and wash
out the gold, yet no one had ever been there before. Very many Mechanics,
Laboures clerks Etc, since last May, have by diging— or trading with the
wild Indians made 1000 to 10 ooof. I have seen a Calif ornian with a 20 oz ps
[piece?] —heard of a ps of 16 pounds. Melius & Howard got in the old
H.B.Co. House in Yerba Buena the start of the trade,^ put up a large estab-
lishment at Sutter Fort, and small ones at the different "diggings." I really
believe from last June to next June, they make over 100,000$. in 4 months
at Sutter they sold 120000$ last month Howard bot 100000$ Melius
took home 2000 oz. to Boston via Callio & Val. almost every merchant in
Y. B. is making largly —
living in Mont. Mr Green, times of 3 year being out in my store,^ has
prevented me from taking hold of the new state of affairs have done some-
thing, by going twice myself to the Placer like half of all who goes there
came home with the fever am yet weak my hand much so. in 46, I
gave M. G. Vallejo 6 or 700$ for the 50 vara lot^ joining Spear, last month
Melius Howard and one other man, gave me 10 000$ in gold at 16$ troy oz
say 5 1 2 K oz — I am offered the same for 50 varas opposite — 5 million will be
under our yearly export of gold dust, a quantity goes next month via Val.
in the Lexington^ to N Y I ship 7 to 8000$. if you have not already seen it
ask Purser [Joseph] Wilson to show it to you
Your Brother® last summer went to Mazatlan in charge of a Cargo of
lumber for sale, has not returned, when he does he will at the North
have every chance to make Money— in Mont. I thought him unsteady,
for a year back I understand he has not been. Every time I saw him at C. L.
Ross^^ store a clerk, he appeared attentive being very much in M. with Scott,
* Original letter, transcribed here verbatim, is in the collection of Larkin Material
belonging to Dr. Leonard.
1 1 4 California Historical Society Quarterly
I think done him no good." Not many of the old Foreign Residents have
taken hold of the Placer business as yet, having old business to attend to.
do you get your News paper^^
on verso: Yrs tired down etc
F. D. Adierton Esq. [signed] Thomas O. Larkin [rubric]
Loring & Co —
Valpariso
[undecipherable]
via Payta
NOTES
1. Several letters written by Faxon Dean Atherton (a native of Massachusetts, as was
Larkin) to Larkin are among the "Larkin Documents for the History of California" at
the Bancroft Library. Atherton's letters are explicit in reporting trade possibilities be-
tween Chile and California as well as shrewd in comments on politics. See especially
Vol. V of these documents, No. ii (Feb. 5, 1847); VI, No. 173 (Sept. 10, 1848); and
idem, No. 183 (Sept. 22, 1848). A biographical sketch of Atherton is given by Bancroft
in his History of California (San Francisco, 1884-90), II, 704. Atherton also had some-
thing to say about the lack of letters from Larkin; but in one instance at least there was
some other excuse besides Larkin's being too busy. On Sept. 10, 1848, he wrote Larkin:
Your favour of August 14th 1847 was only received July 6th 1848 having been wrecked
on Christmas Island. . . ."
2. In his letter of Sept. 10, 1848, referred to above, Atherton said: "The Gold dust
received per Brig J. R. S. sold for 22 reals . . . being nearly 17$ 50 per ounce. . . ."
Bordon may be Borden, master of the American ship Bowditch from. Rhode Island, at
San Francisco in Sept. 1847. (Bancroft, op. cit., V, 576.)
3. See "Larkin to His Sons," this Quarterly, XXVII (Dec. 1948), 298-99, for his de-
scription of "the Sacramento Placer."
4. Bancroft, op. cit., VI, 367-77 (incl. map) describes the gold finds along the San
Joaquin tributaries. Limit of exploration southward in the year of Larkin's letter was
the Tuolumne River, reached that August. Hallidie, inventor of the cable car, was
looking for gold on Kern River as late as 1853, but with no success. (Edgar M. Kahn,
"Andrew S. Hallidie as Writer and Speaker," this Quarterly, XXV, March 1946, 1-2.)
5. See Anson S. Blake, "The Hudson's Bay Company in San Francisco," in the present
issue of this Quarterly.
6. In "Larkin Documents," IV, No. i (Jan. i, 1846) is a copy of the agreement be-
tween Larkin and Talbot H. Green, whereby Larkin "puts into the charge and posses-
sion of said Green his Store and Warehouses, for three years — from this date, and a
Capital of Ten Thousand dollars in goods and provisions at Cost prices. . . ." Wit-
nesses were A. B. Thompson and W. F. P. Hartnell.
7. This lot was probably in Block 24, bounded by Montgomery, Washington, Kearny,
and Clay. Bancroft (op. cit., V, 681, map on p. 677) says: "The Vallejo lot next north
[cor. Montgomery and Washington] was purchased by Larkin, and had no building till
after '48. . . ." The reference to Vallejo is, however, to Juan A. Vallejo.
8. The Lexington, 2l U. S. transport, brought Co. F, 3d artillery, to California during
the Mexican War and anchored at Monterey on Jan. 28, 1847. She did service up and
down the coast during that and the following year. (Bancroft, op. cit., V, 514, 519.)
9. This was Robert Atherton, mentioned frequently in F. D. Atherton's correspond-
ence with Larkin. On May 9, 1847, he asked Larkin, "Have the goodness to do what
i
Larkin to At her ton 1 1 5
you can for my brother Robert should he be in Monterey." ("Larkin Documents," V,
No. 37.) And in his letter to Larkin of Sept. lo, 1848, cited above, he had said: "I am
greatly obliged for your attention to my Brother. . . ."
10. Charles L. Ross, at first agent or perhaps partner of Gelston & Co., built his "New
York store" on the northwest corner of Washington and Montgomery in 1847 and was
still occupying it at the time of Larkin's letter. (Bancroft, op. cit., V, 683; also Ross'
"Biography," MS in H. H. Bancroft's handwriting, Bancroft Library.)
11. This was "Don Diego Scott," of whom Atherton says on Sept. 22, 1848: "I am
likewise informed that D Diego Scott has got into some difficulty with the American
authorities in Santa Barbara. . . ." ("Larkin Documents," VI, No. 183.) See also ibid.j
V, No. 37 (May 9, 1847), where he says that he had received letters from his brother
and from Scott telling of Larkin's imprisonment during the Mexican War. James Scott
and Capt. John Wilson were in partnership in Santa Barbara when Sir George Simpson
visited there, as described elsewhere in this issue of the Quarterly.
12. As Larkin's letter, here transcribed, is dated Oct. 31, 1848, his reference to "News
paper" is probably to the Calif ornian which was issued regularly (after various inter-
ruptions) from Sept. 2, 1848 to Nov. 11, 1848. (Bancroft, op cit., V, 658-59, ft. note.)
Atherton, on his part, was sending papers to Larkin; in fact, there are many references
to the receipt or non-receipt of newspapers in their correspondence. For example, on
Feb. 5, 1847 ("Larkin Documents," V, No. 11), Atherton writes: "I send you some few
papers amongst others . . . The Neighbour published monthly in Valpo." Three months
later (May 9, 1847, idem, No. 37) he asks Larkin not to forget "to subscribe for all the
newspapers in California on my account." Nevertheless, in his letter of Sept. 10, 1848,
cited above, he says: "... I have only received two about a month since, where they
get to it is difficult to tell."
r^
Documentary
I Talbot H. Green of San Francisco, California do hereby appoint and
constitute John W. Geary of the same place my true and lawful attorney,
for me and in my behalf to convey the right, title and interest which I have
as one of the Commissioners of the Sinking Fund under two certain deeds of
trust heretofore executed to me in connection with John W. Geary, James
by the city of San Francisco
King of William, William H. Hooper, and Benjamin L. Berry /\ as com-
missioners of the sinking Fund of the City of San Francisco, in certain
property described in said deeds, to such person or persons as shall be legally
appointed for that position by the Legislature, by the said City, or by any
court of competent jurisdiction. Witness my hand and seal this 15th day of
April AD 1 85 1. The words "by the city of San Francisco" having been
interlined before the signing hereof
In presence of Talbot H. Green
John W. Dwindle
E. V. Joice [rubric]
Original in collection of this Society.
It will be remembered that, recognized on the street as Paul Geddes in the fall of 1850,
by the following spring evidence had accumulated to show clearly that Talbot H. Green
had been masquerading under an assumed name. The present document would seem to
have been executed preparatory to his enforced departure from San Francisco in the
steamer Fanama, which sailed the afternoon of the date of the above document. (John
Hussey, "New Light Upon Talbot H. Green," this Quarterly, March 1939, p. 38.)
See Soule et al, Annals of San Francisco (New York, 1855), p. 373, for notice, "To the
Public," in which the citizens are told that the projected sale of lots by the sheriff in
favor of Peter Smith against the city would be illegal. An ordinance of the city council
of Dec. 1850 had conveyed the lots to the commissioners of the sinking fund in trust for
the benefit of the creditors of the city; and by virtue of an act of the previous legislature
(referred to in the above document) the commissioners of the sinking fund had con-
veyed said lots to the commissioners of the funded debt "upon the same trusts." Com-
missioners of the funded debt were: "P. A. Morse, D. J. Tallant, Wm. Hooper, Jno. W.
Geary, James King of Wm." The date affixed to the public notice was June 14, 1851.
116
Ogden's Report of his 1829-1830 Expedition
Edited by John Scaglione
As Alice Bay Maloney stated in her article on Peter Skene Ogden:
Z-m Of all that lusty band of "Mountain men" who roamed the forests and streams
jL JL of the Far West in the early days of the nineteenth century, none trapped
more beaver, laughed louder, played wilder practical jokes, fought harder, or left his
name on more places he discovered and explored than did Peter Skene Ogden. Nor did
any travel farther afield ^
The greatest extent of his expenditions took place during 1829-30, when he
carried the red and white banner of the Hudson's Bay Company from the
Columbia River to a point not far from the Gulf of California, and, while
returning, explored and trapped the entire length of California's hinterland.
Ogden's official report of this journey was conveyed by Chief Factor
John McLoughlin to the governor and committee of the Hudson's Bay
Company in his letter dated October 11, 1830, with the following com-
ment: "No. 5 is Mr Ogdens Report of his transactions and occurrences last
winter. . . ."^ The editor of Volume I of McLoughlin's correspondence
remarks that the report had not been found but mentions the whereabouts
of the letter, published now for the first time through the courtesy of the
London officials of the company. It was obtained by the present writer
quite by chance, having been included in a microfilm of other material for-
warded in response to his request.
Peter Skene (or Skeen) Ogden (b. City of Quebec, 1794; d. Oregon City,
1854) early displayed an adventurous disposition,^ and although it was in-
tended by his family that he should follow his father and grandfather in
the profession of law, he abandoned these studies in favor of employment
with John Jacob Astor's fur-trading organization. At seventeen years of age
he began working for the North West Company. This Canadian company
traded for furs in open defiance of the Hudson's Bay Company's legal
monopoly of that trade in British North America. Competition led to blood-
shed—and the hurling of epithets, Ogden being referred to as a "murderer"
by Governor Williams of the Hudson's Bay Company.* After nine turbulent
years of service, during which he displayed qualities marking him as a
leader, Ogden was granted a "partnership" in the North West Company;
but when the contending companies were merged in 1821 under the name
of the Hudson's Bay Company, Ogden found himself without a job.
The following year (1822) he sailed for London to petition for recon-
sideration of his case. He would have been refused a commission had not
the newly appointed governor of the northern department, George Simp-
son, interceded and in 1823 secured for him a clerkship at Spokane House,
117
1 1 8 California Historical Society Quarterly
the post from which the Snake parties were outfitted.^ The northern depart-
ment, of which Fort Vancouver^ became the headquarters in 1825, included,
roughly, all territory claimed by Great Britain west of the divide of the
Rocky Mountains, south of Russia's Alaskan territory and north of the
possessions of Mexico; but the United States also laid claim to that region,
and upon the failure of the two governments to agree upon a boundary, a
joint-occupation convention had been signed in 18 18, whereby the area in
dispute was left to exploitation by the citizens of both nations. By the merger
of 1 82 1, the Hudson's Bay Company had inherited the Columbia River posts
of the North West Company. For almost eleven years after the treaty no
American arrived to participate in the lucrative trade of the lower Columbia;
in fact, not until Jedediah Smith's expeditions of 1827-29, did the Americans
manage to push their trade west of the Great Salt Lake region.
Anticipating that the ultimate settlement of the boundary dispute would
concede to the United States her claim to territory to the south of the
Columbia River, the Hudson's Bay Company took steps to denude the
region of all fur-bearing animals.^ Means to this end were the annual trade
expeditions to the upper Snake River country. Governor Simpson himself
believed that:
The greatest and best protection we can have from opposition is keeping the country
closely hunted as the first step that the American Government will take towards coloni-
zation is through their Indian Traders and if the country becomes exhausted in Fur
bearing animals they can have no inducement to proceed thither. We therefore entreat
that no exertions be spared to explore and Trap every part of the country. . . .^
And he had received instructions from London to undersell the Americans
already trapping in the Snake region,
which will damp their sanguine expectations of profit, and diminish the value which
they at present put upon the Trade. It will be useful to give the Americans full occupa-
tion by active and well regulated opposition on the South of the river to prevent their
advancing toward the north.^
Plans to penetrate into California^^ were thus deferred while the com-
pany was absorbed in efforts to maintain a monopoly of the lower Columbia
trade. Policy dictated that American traders be opposed wherever they
crossed the Great Divide, and the man entrusted with the task of preventing
their westward advance was Ogden. It would appear that Governor Simp-
son had this duty in mind when he recommended Ogden's appointment to
the Columbia department; his commission as chief trader was sealed in
March 1824, and in December of that year he was dispatched to the wilder-
ness of the upper Snake country (see note 5 above).
As leader of the Snake expeditions, Ogden was exposed to hazards other
than the customary Indian difficulties and the hardships of the trail. Few of
his men were regularly contracted employees of the company. The majority
were "freemen," formerly employed by the old North West Company and
Ogden's Report , 1 82^-^0 Expedition 1 1 9
described by Governor Simpson as "the very scum of the country and gen-
erally outcasts from the service for misconduct . . . the most unruly and
troublesome gang to deal with in this or perhaps any part of the world."^^
Nor did Ogden escape collision with his American competitors. A par-
ticular source of annoyance appears to have been the Americans led by
William H. Ashley and later by William L. Sublette, Jedediah Smith, and
D. E. Jackson, who accused Ogden of poaching on U. S. territory/^ As if
to show disdain for their claims, Ogden returned to Fort Vancouver via the
headwaters of the east fork of the Missouri River. Fear that this sort of
territorial violation might prompt the U. S. government to take action
induced the governor and committee of the Hudson's Bay Company to
write to Ogden's superiors:
We have repeatedly given directions that all collision with the Americans should be
avoided as well as infringements upon their territory, it appears however . . . that Mr.
Ogden must have been to the southward of 49 degrees of latitude and to the eastward
of the Rocky Mountains which he should particularly avoid . . . [further] inattention to
this instruction . . . will be attended with our serious displeasure.^^
Until 1830, Ogden led the Snake expeditions, returning his furs to Fort
Vancouver during the summer in time to be sent by the annual fall ship to
London. That incredible hardship was the rule, is too frequently indicated
in his journals^^; but the results, from the point of view of geography alone,
were gratifying, for he made the initial exploration of the region west and
northwest of Great Salt Lake, discovering Mary's, later the Humboldt,
River, and the headwaters of Pit River (which he sometimes spelled "Pitt,"
as in the letter transcribed presently). However, it was the fact that he
maintained a favorable competition with the Americans in the Snake coun-
try, and consequently prevented their effective advance westward, which
led Governor Simpson early in 1829 to write of him in this fashion:
I cannot quit the subject of our Trapping Expeditions, without expressing my utmost
satisfaction with the zeal, activity and perseverence manifested by Chief Trader Ogden,
in the very arduous Service on which he has been employed for some years past, while
I am sorry to intimate, that the injury his constitution has sustained, by the privations
and discomfort to which he has so long been exposed, will render it necessary to relieve
him as soon as we can find a Gentleman qualified to fill his place with advantage. ^^
The hardships suffered by Jedediah Smith and his party at the Umpqua
River in 1828, after they had trapped northward through California from
the Colorado, and the assistance rendered them by Alexander McLeod of
the Hudson's Bay Company in whose sphere of influence the Umpqua was,
have been described in detail by many students of the subject.^^ The im-
mediate result of Smith's expedition was to indicate to Governor Simpson
that American trappers could, conceivably, set up an opposition in Cali-
fornia. This aroused him to renew his 1824 project of denuding all the
territory south of the Columbia River of every fur-bearing animal. Nor did
1 2 o California Historical Society Quarterly
he hesitate when he learned of Smith's difficulties with passports in Cali-
fornia. It was decided that Ogden, by extending the Snake expeditions south-
ward, should enter California. "If either of these Gentlemen [Ogden and
McLeod] discover fresh hunting grounds ... we shall take the necessary
measures to occupy them," wrote Governor Simpson.^^ Since McLeod
apparently got no farther south than Pit River,^^ it was Ogden who
pioneered the company's trapping in the central valleys of California
which resulted in the almost continuous presence of Hudson's Bay Com-
pany trappers in California for the next decade.
Governor Simpson was determined to carry out this project even after
the unexpected arrival, the following March 1829, of two American vessels,
whose crews promptly began trade with the Indians along the Columbia
and its tributaries, under the very shadow of Fort Vancouver stockade.^^
Governor Simpson expected to be in a better position later to deal with the
"few contemptible American Adventurers . . . allowed to Monopolize the
Trade of our Coast. . . ."^^ once the menace of American overland traders
had been removed. Unfortunately for his plans, the wreck of one of the
Company's annual supply ships and the great demand for trade goods on
the Columbia as a result of competition with the American vessels, found
the posts of the region unable to fill requisitions for trade goods.
On the 25th of March, 1829, Governor Simpson departed for the east,
leaving Chief Factor John McLoughlin with instructions to outfit Ogden
for an expedition into California. Although already short of men to meet
the demands of the trade on the Columbia, and worried by the persistent
competition from American vessels, even after the price of beaver became
inflated five-fold, McLoughlin felt obliged to abide by Governor Simpson's
instructions. He found it difficult to outfit Ogden and his sixty men, and
was even forced to turn over his personal gun for Ogden's use.^^ Ogden,
therefore, was under the necessity of commencing his greatest expedition
none too well supplied.
He departed from Fort Vancouver on August 18, 1829, traveling by
boat, as was the custom, to Fort Nez Perces, about five miles from the mouth
of Snake River. There he was delayed for approximately two months while
procuring horses from the Nez Perces Indians, who annually furnished the
company with some 250 head.^^ From that place to Great Salt Lake was
familiar territory to Ogden and his men. If not actually guided by one of the
survivors of Smith's party,^^ Ogden at least had the advantage of an account
of the trail written by Jedediah Smith. ^*
Ogden's graphic summary of his expedition is here transcribed without
change, except for certain typographical expedients and an occasional
bracket to clarify the meaning. It will be seen from the date of the letter
that nine months passed after the arrival of his brigade at Fort Vancouver
before Ogden undertook this communication with London. The delay may
Ogden^s Report^ 1 82p-^o Expedition 1 2 1
have been occasioned by the fact that he had become ill shortly after his
return.
From Peter S. Ogden to the Gov*" Chief Factors & Chief Traders.*
^ , (Dated) F. Vancouver March 12*^ 183 1
Gentlemen,
It was late in Ocf^ 1829 ere I finally succeed'd on the South Branch of the
Columbia in equipping my party with Horses, at this late period I could
have no hopes of making a Fall Hunt & would from the Mountainous Coun-
try I had to travel over almost been justified in not starting [.] from my
success of the preceeding year on Unknown River^^ & in the hopes both from
Indian information and from what I could see of the country from whence
I retumed^^ I must confess I was rather sanguine in my expectations & con-
sequently lost no time in making the discharge of Unkown River" but
again unfortunately found it cover'd with ice & snow [.] this then blasted
all hopes of a fall hunt & the second day after my arrival the natives collected
not less than 400 apparently fully determined we should proceed no further
either wishing we should not communicate with their neighbours or obtain
any knowledge of their country & consequently could not procure any to
act as Guides [.] the following day I separated from them taking nearly a
South & South west^^ course and six days after discovered a fine large river^^
but destitute of Beaver [.] this I examined from its sources to its discharge
in a large salt lake. I still however persevered in advancing & reached the
Great Sandy desert of Great Salt Lake^° [.] this then in Jan^, I was under the
necessity of crossing & in effecting it we suffered severily both from the
want of food & water, the party escaped with their lives but many of our
Horses died, we had now a range of the rocky Mountains to cross^^ & how-
ever arduous the task from the depth of the Snow & severe cold we were
without sustaining any loss fortunate in succeeding, we then soon after dis-
covered another large stream^^ which also discharged in a Salt Lake^^ &
destitute of Beaver [.] finding nothing & the natives new^* [, for] we had
crossed the Mountains [,] the more we advanced their numbers increased &
from all the information I could gain from them that in a South West Course
I should find Beaver [.] I still continued on in the same direction & in Feb^
[1830] I had the satisfaction of reaching the South West Branch^^ of the
Rio Collarado which discharges in the Gulph of Calif ornia^^ [.] here I found
Beaver very thinly scatter'd & not wishing in case of accidents of going too
near the Spanish Settlements" I soon took a different course [.] by follow-
ing the mountains^^ I could examine the different Streams & at the same time
avoid meeting with the Spaniards & on the South branch of the Boveantura^®
which I trapp'd from its sources to its discharge in the Gulf of S^ Francisco
*Published by permission of the Governor and Committee of the Hudson's Bay
Company.
1 2 2 Calif orjiia Historical Society Quarterly
I was fortunate in securing looo Beavers [.] I say fortunate for when on the
eve of leaving it I was join'd by an American party with a M^ Young^^ from
S' Fee well loaded with traps who were in quest of the Boveantura^^ & Wil-
liamette, we kept company for lo days when we reached Pitt River now
found to be the North Branch of the Boveantura when finding Mr. M^^Leod's
trapping party's track*^ they retraced back their steps empty handed.^^
On reaching Pitt River I was no longer a stranger to the country^^ & pro-
ceeded on*^ when I again reached Fort Nez Percy in safety on the 30^^ June
& altho our returns were one third less than last year I trust from the extent
of country I explored the want of returns will not be attributed to want of
exertions but alone to the proverty of the country over which I have no
control.
It now remains for me to state after the many & severe trials we escaped
& had reached Fort Nez Percy in safety that unfortunately in the lower
part of the dales^^ mv Boat was engulph'd in a whirlpool & altho' every
assistance was afforded I truly regret to state including tw^o lads in all nine
were drowned & with them 300 Beaver were lost,*^ this Gentlemen is truly
a severe & a serious loss & I have the consolation that neither the dead or
living can attach any blame to me.
I remain
Gentlemen:
Y^ obed^ Ser^
(Sign'd) Peter S. Ogden
NOTES
1. Alice Bay Maloney, "Peter Skene Ogden's Trapping Expedition to the Gulf of
California, 1829-30," this Quarterly, XIX (Dec. 1940), 309-15.
2. McLoughlin to Gov, et al, Oct. 11, 1830, in The Letters of John McLaughlin, ed.
by E. E. Rich (London: Hudson's Bay Record Societ\% 1941-44), I, 86. Footnote i reads:
"This report has not been found, but in D. 4/125, fos. 85d-86, Ogden to the Gov-
ernor . . ., March 12, 183 1, there is a brief account of his movements from October,
1829, until June 30, 1830."
3. Biographical materials on Ogden may be found in: T. C. Elliott, "Peter Skene
Ogden, Fur Trader," Oregon Hist. Soc. Quarterly, XI (Sept. 1910), 229-78; W. N. Sage,
"Peter Skene Ogden's Notes on Western Caledonia," British Columbia Hist. Soc.
Quarterly, I (Jan. 1937), 45-56; Champlain Society, Publications, Hudson's Bay Series
(hereinafter called H. B. Ser.), II (1939), 238. The Ogden family papers are in the Pro-
vincial Archives of British Columbia.
4. H.B.Ser.,U, 2^8.
5. Idem; see also The Letters of John McLoughlin, op. cit., I, xx.
6. Fort Vancouver was located on the north side of the Columbia, some distance back
from the river — approximately the present-day site of Vancouver, Washington. (The
Letters of John McLoughliii, idem, Ivi.)
7. H.B. Ser., X, xi, xli.
I
Ogden^s Report, 1 82^-^ o Expedition 1 2 3
8. Sir George Simpson, Fur Trade atid Empire . . ., ed. by Frederick Merk (Cam-
bridge, i93i),p. 252.
9. Ibid., p. 295.
10. Ibid., p. ig^; also H.B. Ser., IV (1941), 152.
11. Simpson, op. cit., p. 45.
12. T. C. Elliott, ed., "The Peter Skene Ogden Journals," Oregon Hist. Soc. Quarterly,
X (Sept. 1909), 359. All but one of Ogden's Snake expedition journals are in the archives
of the Hudson's Bay Co., London. The missing journal is for the 1829-30 expedition.
13. H. B. Ser., IV, Ixiv.
14. T. C. Elliott, ed., "The Peter Skene Ogden Journals," op. cit., XI (June 1910),
216-17; H.B.Ser.,W (1940,98.
15. H. B. Ser., X, 65. The officer selected to replace Ogden was John Work.
16. See, for example, Hist. Soc. Southern Calif. Quarterly, XIII (Pt. 4, 1927), facing p.
356, editor's note on early map of Jedediah Smith's route; A. M. Woodbury, "Route of
Jedediah S. Smith in 1826 . . .," Utah Hist. Soc. Quarterly, IV (April 193 1), 35-46;
"WilHam Todd to Edward Ermatinger, dated at York Factory, July 15, 1829," Wash-
ington Hist. Soc. Quarterly, I (July 1907), 256-58; H. H. Bancroft, History of the North-
west Coast (San Francisco, 1884), I, 514; II, 448-49.
17. H.B.Ser.,X,6^.
18. McLeod, after trapping the region near Mount Shasta, penetrated the mountains
in mid-winter, returning to Fort Vancouver via Pit River during Feb. 1830. Cf. note
42 below.
19. The details of this American venture under Capt. Dominis of the brig Oivhyhee
and Capt. Thompson of the brig Cojivoy are at present being compiled in a thesis by the
present writer. The log of the Oivhyhee for this voyage is in the collection of the Cali-
fornia Historical Society.
20. H.B.Ser.,X,j2.
21. John McLoughlin to Donald Manson, Aug. 18, 1829 (photostat copy furnished
present writer by Dr. Burt Brown Barker, Portland, Ore., owner of the original) .
22. H.B.Ser.,X, ^i.
23. Richard Leland, an Englishman hired by Smith in California, disappears from the
records after his arrival with Smith at Fort Vancouver, and may have been employed as
guide. Cf. Aiaurice S. Sullivan, Jedediah Smith, Trader and Trailbreaker (New York,
1936), p. 188; Francis A. Wiley, '■''Jedediah STnith in the West'''' (unpublished Ph.D.
thesis, Univ. of Calif,, 1 941), p. 272.
24. Ogden in his Traits of American Indian Life and Character (San Francisco, 1933),
pp. 6 ff., states that he had a copy of Smith's journal.
25. Humboldt River, discovered by Ogden but later named after a geographer who
had never seen it.
26. During previous expeditions to that region.
27. Humboldt River discharges into Humboldt Sink, between the present towns of
Fallon and Lovelock, Nevada.
28. Obviously due east instead of south or southwest. No other direction appears to
coincide with his descriptions of the country he afterwards traversed.
29. Traveling due east of Humboldt Sink, in six days the mounted party could travel
the 180 miles to Franklin River, which discharges into Franklin Lake.
30. This he could hardly have reached had he traveled southwest from the Humboldt
River, as he states above.
31. Probably, since he did not sight Great Salt Lake, these were Dugway Mountains
or Fish Spring Range, Thomas Range and Drum Mountains. From previous explora-
tions to the north, it would be likely that he would take these to be a range of the Rocky
1 2 4 California Historical Society Quarterly
Mountains, a name he would hardly have used to identify mountains south and /or west
of the Humboldt.
32. Sevier River.
33. Sevier Lake. From this point, Ogden's expedition appears to follow Jcdediah
Smith's trail.
34. This information was significant to the company in the event that it should later
decide to reenter that country for purposes of trade with those Indians.
35. Virgin River. J. J. Warner, "Early Trapping Parties in California" (MS in the
Huntington Library), states that Ewing Young's party found Ogden's trail on Virgin
River and followed it into California.
36. In a personal letter Ogden states: "I extended my trails by far greater distance to
the Gulf of California . . ." (Maloney, op. cit., 311.)
37. Where, like Smith, he might encounter difficulty with Mexican officials.
38. Sierra Nevada.
39. San Joaquin River.
40. Most accounts state Ewing Young arrived in California several months later (June
or July), while this meeting appears to have taken place in late April or early May 1830.
41. Sacramento River, called Buenaventura by Calif ornians.
42. Mrs. Maloney, loc. cit., states that McLeod trapped as far south as Stockton. The
extent of his penetration is also shown by McLoughlin in his letter of Aug. 31, 1833, to
the Governor and committee, where he explains that Laframboise had taken "Mr. Chief
Trader Alexr. Rodk. McLeod's tract [sic] of 1828 to the Bay of St. Francisco ... in the
vicinity of which ... he made the best part of his hunt and says, as Mr. Alex. Rod.
McLeod said before, that the Bay of St, Francisco abounds more in Beaver than any
part of the Country that he saw between this and that place." (The Letters of John
McLoughlin, op. cit., I, 112; likewise, ide?n, 104.)
43. That Young was still empty handed is further indication that he entered the cen-
tral valleys after Ogden.
44. Ogden had been the first to explore the headwaters of Pit River.
45. Probably over the same route used two years later by John Work's California
expedition. For details, see Alice Bay Maloney, Fur Brigade to the Bonaventura . . .
(this Society, Sp. Publ. ip, 1935) .
46. The Dalles, rapids of the Columbia River about 40 miles east of Fort Vancouver.
47. Details are recorded in Ogden's Traits of American Indian Character, see note 24
above, pp. 81-83.
I
California for Hungarian Readers
Letters of Jdnos Xdntus, iSjij and i8$^
Edited by Henry Miller Madden
In 1 85 1 a Hungarian immigrant, Janos Xantus, arrived in the United
States. He was born at Csokonya, in the county of Somogy, on October 5,
1825, educated for the bar, and enlisted in the Hungarian army after the
outbreak of the war of independence against Austria. Xantus was captured
by the Austrians in 1849 and imprisoned in Bohemia, whence he fled to
Saxony in 1850. He continued on to Hamburg and London, and sailed for
America in 1851. After suffering vicissitudes in Louisiana, Iowa, and Mis-
souri, he was obliged to enlist in the United States army at St. Louis on
September 24, 1855, using the assumed name of Louis Vesey. He was en-
rolled in the Second Dragoons, but early in 1857 he was transferred to the
medical department and promoted to be hospital steward, a grade corre-
sponding to that of sergeant. While stationed at Fort Riley, Kansas Terri-
tory, he attracted the attention of Assistant Surgeon William A. Hammond,
who encouraged him in the study of natural history, and urged him to
collect specimens for the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. In
February 1857 Xantus commenced to correspond with Prof. Spencer F.
Baird, the assistant secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. Baird was favor-
ably impressed and obtained his transfer to Fort Tejon, in the hope that the
ambitious hospital steward would be able to explore the biota of this region,
which was still little known. Xantus accordingly traveled from Fort Riley
to New York, boarded the Illinois for the Isthmus of Panama on April 6,
1857, and continued his journey in the Pacific on the Golden Gate, arriving
at San Francisco on the twenty-ninth.
After a stay of about ten days in San Francisco, Xantus shipped himself
and his equipment to San Pedro, and staged inland to Los Angeles and San
Fernando, arriving at Fort Tejon on May 18, 1857. Here he discharged his
duties as hospital steward for over twenty months. At the same time he
worked so energetically as a naturalist that Baird was able to say, "Among
the very important researches in the natural history of America, the explora-
tions of Mr. John Xantus deserve particular mention. . . . He has exhausted
the natural history of the vicinity of the fort in the most thorough man-
ner."^ Partially as a reward, Xantus was granted discharge from his enlist-
ment and was appointed to supervise a tide-gauge station at Cape San Lucas,
Lower California.
The new appointee left Fort Tejon on January 25, 1859, as a passenger
on the Butterfield coach, bound for San Francisco, where he remained until
March 14, preparing his equipment for his tour of duty at Cape San Lucas.
125
1 2 6 California Historical Society Quarterly
Sailing on the latter date, he reached his station on April 4, after a visit to
La Paz. His sojourn at the Cape lasted until August 1861. There his explora-
tions were of such importance that he won the most superlative praise from
Baird. After a brief visit to his homeland in 1861 and 1862, Xantus returned
to the United States and was given the consulship at Manzanillo, on the west
coast of Mexico. This post he retained until he was dismissed in June 1863
for an error of judgment. He returned to Hungary in 1864, ^"^ ^^^^ ^^
December 13, 1894, in Budapest.
For his compatriots, Xantus wrote a number of letters from California.
Of those reproduced here, the first two, addressed to his mother from San
Francisco (May 5, 1857) and Los Angeles (July 5), are taken from pages
162-66 and 170-75 of his volume of collected letters, Xantus Jdnos levelei
Ejszakamerikdbol {Jdnos Xdntus^s Letters jrom North America] (Pest,
1858). The remaining letters here given were published in Magyar sajto
[Hungarian Press], a newspaper of Pest, on April 6, 1859 (p. 174), April 7
(p. 178-79), April 8 (p. 182-83), April 11 (p. 190), April 19 (p. 218), April
22 (p. 230-31), and April 30 (p. 254). They were addressed to the editor
from San Jose (January 29, 1859) and San Francisco (February i, 3, 4, 6).
The first of the letters given below was written a few days after Xantus's
arrival at San Francisco in 1857. From his family and friends in Hungary,
Xantus had concealed the degradation (as he saw it) of his enlistment in the
army, and had woven for their benefit a romantic tale of his successes as a
leader of explorations on the western frontier — a tale compounded partly
from incidents of his garrison life and partly from the published accounts of
the expeditions of R. B. Marcy, L. Sitgreaves, J. M. Abert, et al. In this vein
he had informed his family that he had been commissioned to lead a party
of topographical engineers into the southern Sierra Nevada, and his letter
from San Francisco continued this fiction by referring to "our party" which
was to proceed to San Pedro and thence inland to Fort Tejon, thus cloaking
his indentured condition by its tone en grand seigneur.
The second letter here reproduced is fictitiously dated from Los Angeles
on July 5, 1857, but was probably written from Fort Tejon. Xantus had
arrived at Tejon on May 18, and never revisited Los Angeles after passing
through it. He wrote, in retrospect, of the refinery conducted at San Fran-
cisco by the Hungarians Wass and Uznay, permitting his distance from San
Francisco to lend great enchantment to his description of the works, which
is omitted from this translation. This letter followed one with the equally
fictitious date of Los Angeles, July i, 1857, which contained a description of
the mission of San Gabriel: a translation of this letter appeared in the Annual
Publication of the Historical Society of Southern California, XV (1933),
9-15. It is of this letter that Xantus spoke when he mentioned "having de-
scribed in detail the local region."
The third letter is erroneously dated, for Xantus was already in San Fran-
California for Hungarian Readers 1 2 7
cisco on January 29, the day attributed to this letter from San Jose. It may
be presumed that it was written in San Francisco. The description of the
journey by coach from Fort Tejon to San Jose has been omitted from this
translation.
The fourth letter described the route from San Jose to San Francisco, and
commenced to survey the social culture of the city; this is extended in the
fifth and sixth letters. Many of the facts related should be taken with caution,
and the discrepancy between some of them and corresponding passages in
Xantus's letter of May 5, 1857, should be observed — ^.g., in a former letter,
the statement that the Mercantile Library was founded in 1855 (see note 2,
below), whereas in his letter of 1857 Xantus denied the existence of a library
in San Francisco.
The seventh letter narrated the fortunes of Xantus's fellow countrymen
in San Francisco; and the last of the series was devoted to an essay on the
introduction of Hungarian wines in America.
For assistance in the translation I am indebted to Dr. Odon Schiitz, of
Budapest, and Mr. Edward Stephen Gall, of Bridgeport, Connecticut.
I
_^ - San Francisco, California, May c, 18^7
Dear mother, j j^ ^/
On the first of this month I wrote you a letter in which, aside from the
detailed description of my journey, I let you know that I arrived here on
the eve of April 30. Although I cannot give you much news, still I want to
write you some lines, all the more because the post is leaving this evening
on the ship Golden Gate, back to the States and Europe.
San Francisco is very well situated in both its site and its harbor, and all
its surroundings are really picturesque when seen from the sea. But as soon
as a stranger walks inside the town, and goes from one end to the other of
its streets and surroundings, he becomes aware that he was deceived. The
town is situated almost like Pozsony, with the difference that the hills are
quite near the shore, and as this circumstance makes it difficult to erect
buildings on the cliffs, one-third of the town is built on the water, that is,
the houses stand on piers, and there is a veritable sea under about a hundred
and forty streets. When the tide flows, the water rises almost as high as the
floor; on the other hand, at low tide, if one raises a beam or a board of a
floor and looks into the deep, one can see mud covered with rats and frogs,
under the flats, the streets, and everywhere.
Under such circumstances one would think that the town is utterly un-
healthful, but this is not the truth, because it is well known that San Francisco
is one of the most healthful towns in the world. This is probably an outcome
of the cool northwest wind, which blows at the time of the tide from one
1 2 8 California Historical Society Quarterly
o'clock in the afternoon until seven, daily, and this cleans and permeates
the air.
One-third of the town is built in the above manner on the water, one-third
is built on the cliffsides, like the hovels of the Gellert Hill, or the Zucker-
mandl in Pozsony, and the rest is built on the sand hills situated behind the
eastern part of the town, on blown sand dunes.
The extension of the town is immeasurable, but its greater part is not yet
built, although one can distinctly see from some higher place the streets
forming into rectangles. Some of the streets are magnificent, with their
buildings of brick and stone, as well as their stores, which can be matched
with any European town; but most of the town is comprised of hovels made
of board, and it is a natural consequence that there are two or three fires
every day — but this event, as an everyday occurrence, bothers only those
neighbors whose welfare is in danger.
The population of the town, 84,000 people, consists of a mixture from
all nations of the world, but still it can be divided into four main classes,
in which the rest, an insignificant minority, is dissolved. One-fourth (in
round figures) is of English tongue, one-fourth French and Spanish, one-
fourth German, and one-fourth Chinese.
These last are in a peculiar position. In 1 848, when gold was discovered in
California, San Francisco had only 1200, and all California only 12,000
inhabitants; but miners needed working hands, because white workers were
dear, and because slavery was prohibited. This directed the attention of the
moneyed men to the great proletariat of China; they sent many ships there
and imported within a few years 40,000 Chinamen, who worked very
cheaply in the beginning, but later on, when they became acquainted with
conditions here, they asked for higher and higher wages, and soon they
worked only for as much salary as the white people.
So the sons of the Celestial Empire have come gradually to affluence, and
have fought themselves into an independent position. At present, in San
Francisco alone, there are 22,000 in a separate quarter of the town, where
they are to be seen in every possible type of shop. They have three news-
papers issued in Chinese, an opera house, and a dance hall. The most remark-
able thing is that they have kept their original costume and do not seem to
show any disposition to adapt it to the local civilization.
If one walks in their quarter, one may easily think that he is in China; in
front of all the shops, on the houses, and so on, there are Chinese ideograms
in the most glaring colors, and the Chinese language and music are heard
every now and then. The sons and daughters of the Celestial Empire stroll
up and down, wearing, without discrimination of sex, small pointed caps,
wide coats, wide trousers, and thick-soled sandals, and having long pigtails
reaching almost to the ground.
A museum, academy, library, or any other institute which belongs to the
California for Hungarian Readers 1 2 9
realm of wisdom, does not yet exist in San Francisco." For this, time has not
arrived, for nobody here has time to learn from books; everyone hunts for
treasure and fortune. An attentive observer would truly think that all people
here want to live only this very day, believing that the day of judgment will
come next morning. On the streets everybody runs, coaches and carriages
go in a furious gallop, everybody stuffs the food into his mouth, and with-
out chewing the last mouthfuls runs for business, looking frequently at his
watch. All night long there is dancing and music and whoring, as well as
gambling at dice and cards; and at dawn all the community is again on foot.
One may easily imagine that under such living conditions, social culture
is subject to any criticism. But how could it be otherwise? A common
laborer, who has stoked a furnace, or broken stones a few weeks before,
becomes wealthy in the gold mines and today he drives in a coach, employs
servants in his household, and is honored as a cavalier.
The parlormaid or the kitchenmaid, who weeks ago had cooked, charred,
and washed the laundry, has become the wife of a banker or a rich merchant,
because she has a nice face. The barber who arrived just yesterday has be-
come a renowned doctor, and a common smith's apprentice has become a
veterinary surgeon or a manufacturer, and so it is with everything.
And under such conditions one can imagine that personal courage does
not stand on a solid basis. Every day murders and robberies are committed
everywhere, without being punished; they are regarded as ordinary things
or operations, and one can hardly dream of a future when society may return
to its normal level.
Besides the three Chinese newspapers mentioned above, the press is kept
busy by three German, two Spanish, three French, and seventeen English
newspapers. Furthermore, there are issued a number of fortnightly reviews
or weeklies, and some monthlies.^
One would be rather mistaken to conclude from this great number of
issues that people patronize them for spiritual sustenance. All papers, with-
out exception, exclude "literary stuff." One-half of the paper consists of
advertisements, a quarter of the daily market, list of currencies, and so on,
and the rest brings news from the mines, regularly with the description of
some murders and massacres. There is very seldom an article about Europe
or general world politics, and even then it is given briefly in a few lines.
The trade of San Francisco may be regarded as flourishing and still in
progress; from its port one may travel to any place in America, and even
to any part of the world. Vessels leave each week for Australia, China,
Marseilles, and Liverpool, and steamers for South America and Oregon.
San Francisco is closely connected with the rest of California.
The bay of San Francisco is really the estuary of the Sacramento River;
this river is navigable by steamship three hundred miles upstream. On the
riverbanks lie Benicia, Sacramento City, Marysville, Nevada, and Stockton,
1 3 o California Historical Society Quarterly
all of which are famous cities developing on a huge scale. Between these and
San Francisco there is a rather vigorous steamship traffic, all the more be-
cause from these cities fast coaches lead to the different gold mines.
About all these place I shall write you more lengthily, when once I have
visited the mines and gold washing settlements.
Along the coast, steamships sail weekly up to the estuary of the Columbia
River, and also to the south as far as San Diego. I intend to follow this way
down to San Pedro, whence our party will continue its way on mules
through Los Angeles to Tejon, into the Sierra Nevada. But before this, if
at all possible, I want to see the gold mines.
There is plenty of money in the country; money making is easy and so,
naturally, money is not of much value. The smallest coin in circulation is the
1 2 Yz cent piece, equal to 1 5 garas. A needle costs 1 5 garas, a cigar costs 1 5
garas, a glass of beer 1 5 garas, and so on.
Clothing and footwear are not very dear in proportion, but food is more
expensive than anywhere in the world; for example, a chicken costs lYz
pengo forints,* a dozen eggs i pengo forint, a pound of beef i forint 20
krajcar, a pound of cauliflower i forint, and so on. Laundry washing of one
dozen pieces of underwear (stockings, shirt, and handkerchief) costs 5
dollars, that is, 1 1 forints. Board and lodging in a house cost 3 dollars a day,
16 dollars a week, and 50 dollars a month.
I observe with pleasure, in closing my letter, that all our compatriots,
who have lived and are still living here, have grown rich. My friend Moli-
torisz [Molitor],^ who migrated here from London in 1851, moved back a
year ago with his bags of gold; he was a money-changer and made money
at it, and then went to Europe, to enjoy it as long as he can. Very clever.
At present there are still four compatriots here. Janos Szabo^ is secretary
of the local United States Mint. He gets a good salary, and handles consider-
able capital in different enterprises.
A famous globe-trotting compatriot, Agoston Haraszti [Haraszthy],^ is
in a company with Count Vas [Wass]^ and Umay [Uznay],^ the late cap-
tain of Honveds; they have a bank and an exchange office; moreover, they
have a gold smelting and refining factory with steam power installation, and
they are already millionaires, although their business has just started to
flourish.
The younger brother of Haraszthy (Arpad)^*^ came with me from New
York on the steamship. He is still a youth and came directly from the Bacska
to his brother to try his luck. I have not seen Urnay yet, but I met his wife
(she is a Hungarian lady from Ujvidek) in the bank, and she invited me
cordially to lunch, which invitation I have accepted with pleasure — all the
more, because my other compatriots would be there for my sake.
Urnay lives outside the town, in the Santos Dolores Mission, where, as I
hear, he has a house in the form of a castle, and a beautiful park in the Eng-
California for Hungarian Readers 131
lish style, but he goes home in a carriage only in the evening because he
spends the entire day here in town.
I had a rather pleasant encounter here, which I do want to mention. I met
Madame Huebuer [Hiibner? ] ,^^ who had received me with such sisterly love
in Hamburg. As Henriette tells it, her husband had emigrated in 1852 and
moved all his business here, but last year he died. Henriette is therefore a
widow at present, and as she is wealthy, young, and beautiful, naturally
she has many adorers. But she, as a cultured, intelligent woman, does not
want to bury herself here, so she is going to sail back to Hamburg this sum-
mer. Last night I visited her, and so I met all the civilized local German
colony; and as I was introduced to all the German dandies, I was astonished
that Henriette wants to escape as far as Hamburg from them.
II
P^ , Los Angeles, Southern California, July 5, 1857
As we are going to start from here tomorrow night [for Fort Tejon], I
seize the opportunity to write you once more before I arrive at my destina-
tion. We had much trouble until we finished preparing the trappings and
packs for the mules and donkeys, and this is the reason we had to stay here
so long.
The local flora is truly a marvel; such an astounding medley of colors
cover the meadows and valleys here that one can hardly imagine anything
more beautiful.
I plucked in San Gabriel a handful of meadow flowers and pressed them
in a book just to send them piece by piece in my successive letters to you,
to give you a notion of the beauty and variety of the local flora.
After having described in detail the local region to you in my last letter,
I shall not mention it further, but take you, mother, on the wings of thought
once more to San Francisco. I shall hardly have time to return to this sub-
ject in my next letters, although I saw and witnessed much that I could write
volumes about. I shall show you one enterprise of our compatriots of which
every Hungarian can justly be proud.
It is the gold refinery of Count Vas, Urnay, and Haraszthy. My friend
Vas led me to the refinery, and was so kind as to show me every corner and
explain everything; and I must tell you that I was very much surprised to
see such an extensive, economical, and useful operation in such a compact
organization. . . .
Behind the hall is Vas's office, a small but most tasteful sanctuary. Sanctu-
ary I call it, because the walls are covered with gold-framed portraits of
Hungarian authors and publicists, who presumably never saw so much
treasure at home, as they have since they became roommates of our friend
Vas. ...
In San Francisco there is also a certain Csapkay [Czapkay],^^ ^ barber's
1 3 2 California Historical Society Quarterly
helper from Hungary, a capital humbug, the like of whom we never met in
our life as an emigrant. In wonderful advertisements, in calendars and in all
the newspapers, he has proclaimed since he arrived at San Francisco (with-
out a penny) how great a doctor he was in Hungary and how he could
completely and instantaneously cure any disease. He acquired more and
more patients each day, so that at last he has a reputation like the priest
of Rudno.
When I was in San Francisco our compatriot Dulcamara [Czapkay] was
just "in floribus" and, as he says, he collected by doctoring at least a few
hundred dollars. He has, besides, a nice home in the best quarter of the town.
It is really astounding how enormously one can cheat an American if one
finds the "right way." Never in my life have I seen a more simple, unedu-
cated, and clumsier youngster than this Csapkay and still he succeeds. I have
cut out an advertisement of his from a German newspaper of San Francisco
which is not quite so idiotic and hazardous as the ones in the American
papers (because, among the Germans, philosophers are more easily found),
but still this gives you a suitable notion of him without any observations of
my own, and I know you will laugh a great deal, especially because he
promises to administer help against "Kinderlosigkeit."
Ill
San Jose, January 29, [1859]
. . . Our countryman, Sandor Nagy,^^ a former hussar captain, lives in
San Jose, and deals in ready-made clothes. He has a well-stocked store in the
best part of town, and makes an honorable living. He is still unmarried, yet
wishes to submit to the rule of the slipper, and has already picked out the
queen of his heart.
IV
San Francisco, February i, [1859]
Although I had intended to come here by boat from San Jose, I later
learned that because of low water the steamer could only get within fifteen
miles of the town, to which point the journey would have to be made by
road, so I bought a ticket on the express coach. We left at ten o'clock in
the morning and arrived at five in the afternoon. The road can be called
good, though we had to walk from about two miles out to the city because
of the terrific sand. All along the route of fifty-three miles, on the left and
right and as far as the eye can see, there are enclosed gardens (some with
wire fences miles long) and no end of beautiful country houses. Almost in
the middle of the route is the city of San Mateo, which is the seat of the
county of the same name. It has many beautiful public buildings which are
especially remarkable because the city is composed of individual buildings
spread over a large area, and what we call streets cannot be seen.
Almost halfway between San Mateo and San Francisco we saw Rancho
California for Hungarian Readers 1 3 3
del Capuchino, the country home owned by our countryman, Janos Szabo,
who was born in Buda. It is a very nice villa with many outbuildings; great
numbers of oxen, horses, and sheep graze in its pastures. I later learned that
Szabo has leased this property, and receives a rental of $3000 a year. It has
about 1 700 acres, only 400 of which are under cultivation.
San Francisco has changed tremendously both within and without since
I was last here. At that time there was not a scientific institution worthy of
the name, public order and peace were hardly known, and the paving of
streets and other such things were not even worth mentioning. Most of the
streets are now paved or, at least, temporarily covered with boards. One
can now walk in front of the stores and warehouses because the police no
longer permit bales and boxes to stand outside. Innumerable brick, stone,
marble, and iron houses have been built on the main streets. The public
conveyances have been numbered and placed under police supervision. It is
true that brawlings, stabbings, and shootings are still everyday occurrences
which cause no surprise, yet individual confidence is so great that now a
peaceful man can walk on the streets both day and night with as much
security as in any eastern city, even though the only illumination which
exists is that installed by a few rich men for their own convenience. In mat-
ters such as this last the city has not as yet intervened.
Not so long ago a faculty of medicine was added to the state university,
and in this connection a Californian medical association was organized,
which publishes an extremely interesting monthly journal in the interests of
doctors and physicians.^*
Last year a scientific society was organized, which also publishes a
monthly review. Interesting lectures are held daily in its halls. Its collection
of animals, metals, and minerals grows from day to day, and beyond doubt
the society will be of great influence in the development of Californian
mining.
There is also a museum in San Francisco, but it is built on the American
model and can be considered rather a gallery of curiosities than a place in
which to learn and study.^^ The museum was established as a speculative
scheme, and has mostly living animals which dance and perform other tricks
to attract the public. Admission is fifty cents, which is half a dollar.
At present there are four theaters in San Francisco, one of which is of no
account and in which tightrope walkers perform for the lowest class of
people. The other three are large and good-looking buildings. One of these,
the American Theater, is the largest, and German, Spanish, and French per-
formances are alternately given twice a week. In the Maguire Opera House
and in the Lyceum Theater English performances are given daily, most of
them song-and-dance burlesques, and striking tableaux, as the "spectacle"
is still of the greatest attraction to the American. All these theaters are built
134 California Historical Society Quarterly
according to American ideas and tastes, that is, without box seats. There are
only four box seats and these are next to the proscenium arch, and are only
for the actors. Otherwise there are two kinds of seats: one, the parquette, or
the orchestra, and the other the dress circle, which we call reserved seats,
of two rows, above the former. These are comfortable, upholstered, and
unnumbered seats where anyone who pays the price may sit as he pleases.
There is not much difference in price between the two places, and persons
who are alone generally go to the parquette while women and families sit
in the dress circle.
The Lyceum Theater started a new thing not so long ago which I believe
to be the only one of its kind, and for this reason I mention it. Instead of
the usual playbills this theater has printed a daily newspaper called the
Lyceum Gazette.^^ The paper consists of four closely printed quarto pages,
the first of which is adorned with the program in large letters and, occa-
sionally, with pictures or caricatures of the best-known actors who are
playing that day. Ordinary newspaper material is on the second page, along
with a critical column in which the theater managers and actors criticize
themselves in advance of the performance. One may always read in this
column that the theater is the largest and best in the world, its actors the
most famous, and so on, and the editors who had the nerve to write unfavor-
able reviews of yesterday's performance in their newspapers are called
"rascals, donkeys, fools, loafers, and worthless beggars" in today's Gazette
by the criticized individuals, who invite the public to attend today's per-
formance and to pass judgment themselves on those rattlesnake scribblers.
The rest of the newspaper consists of advertisements. Fifteen thousand
copies are distributed daily in all parts of the city and on the ships in the
harbor and, naturally, entirely without cost. Because of its large circulation
and many readers, an American realizes that there is no better medium for
the advertisement of his goods, and for this reason large advertisements
appear in each number of the Gazette, though they cost $2.50 a line. This
not only finances the newspaper but brings in a sizable income to the theater
as well, especially if we consider that the Gazette is the best promoter of
the theater's interest.
Until now Hungarian theaters have hardly realized that they could earn
just as much from the playbills as from the plays themselves, and I recom-
mend the scheme to the attention of those theater managers who must spend
almost half their income on the printing of the playbills alone. (?)
V
San Francisco, February 3, [1859]
In the last few days I received several invitations to visit the Mercantile
Library Association but I always procrastinated as I did not expect the
pleasure to outweigh the trouble. How mistaken I was when I entered the
California for Hungarian Readers 135
association's building this morning! The extravagantly furnished palace is
really such a marvellous club, and has such wonderful libraries and reading
rooms, that few Europeans would expect to find the like in California, and
when they stumble upon it by accident, as I did, they must bow deeply.
Beside its many social rooms, the association has three reading rooms, a
select library, and a billiard and a chess room. The library has only scientific
works, in strong and good-looking bindings, numbering 13,700 volumes.
Card catalogues are on the tables and every member helps himself; if he likes,
he may take home any book he wishes to read. All that the rules of the asso-
ciation require is that the borrower enter the name of the book he is taking
and keep it no longer than three days. Such confidence in the members is
absolutely unknown in Europe but here it is the general rule, and many will
wonder when I say that although one-third of the books are always in cir-
culation, in the four years the association has been in existence only five
books have disappeared. This is brilliant proof that the members do not
abuse this confidence, and with jealous honesty everyone guards the collec-
tive honor of the association. By doing so they show that everyone in
America is mature and is able to observe the laws and rules of society with-
out the supervision and control of oflicials.
The library has comfortable armchairs and divans for the use of the
readers, and well-equipped writing tables where they may make their notes.
The first of the reading rooms has foreign newspapers, magazines, and
periodicals from all over the world. The second contains nothing but pub-
lications of the Californian press, and the third has general Anglo-Saxon
literature. Each of the rooms is well supplied with writing materials, ency-
clopaedias, and all kinds of dictionaries. At present, 174 daily and weekly
newspapers, 84 monthly, and 63 quarterly magazines and many other peri-
odicals in almost every language and from all parts of the world are obtain-
able. The association has charter and elected members. Charter members
pay $500 at once and are forever exempt from all dues of any kind. Elected
members pay an admission fee of I50 and monthly dues of $2. Not counting
the charter members, the association has 2145 members and a regular annual
income of $51,480, or much more than 100,000 pengo forint.^''
There are eleven daily newspapers in San Francisco, eight of them morn-
ing and three of them evening, and their daily circulation is about 95,000
copies. The Alta California morning paper has the largest circulation
(18,000) ; then comes the Evening Bulletin with 9,000. Newspapers with the
smallest circulation are the Calif ornia Democrat (German) with 1500 copies
and the Phete (French) ^^ with 1900. Outside the eleven daily papers there
are thirteen weekly publications with a total circulation of 135,000. The
most important of these is the Pacific Herald with 31,000 copies.^^ By
languages the weekly papers are German, French, Spanish (2), Chinese (2),
and English (7). The monthly, quarterly, and annual periodicals are all
1 3 6 California Historical Society Quarterly
English, and the leading one of these is a fashion magazine something like
the old HonderUj only much larger because it has 164 pages.
VI
San Francisco, February 3, [1859]
Over and above these newspapers and magazines fifteen periodicals ap-
pear, which, in San Francisco slang, are called steamboat papers. These news-
papers have neither subscribers nor a definite schedule of publication, but
are printed to coincide with the departure of ocean-going vessels. They
contain the latest news of California and the Pacific states, and are purchased
partly by the passengers to read during the journey, partly by the captains
and postal agents who sell them in places where the ships touch. How wide-
spread and important these newspapers are appears from the fact that the
ship which leaves every other week for New Orleans, Havana, New York,
Le Havre, and London, by way of Panama, takes at least 50,000 steamboat
papers, and there was a time when it took more than 1 00,000 copies.
That Califomian society is striving for a secure foundation and is ap-
proaching solidarity is shown not only by scientific and intellectual move-
ments but also by the fact that some of the daily newspapers print special
articles and devote some space to European affairs in their pages. All this is
just a beginning, if we consider, for example, that of the thirty-six packed
columns of imperial type of the Daily Alta California only three are devoted
to such articles, and thirty-two or thirty-three to commercial, financial,
shipping, and similar news and advertisements. Advertisements play a great
part all over America, but in California they are of a special character. The
advertiser does not wish to bring his goods only to the attention of those
who are naturally interested, but with every conceivable artifice he strives
to have the advertisement catch everyone's eye, and to induce those people
to buy his goods who never thought of doing so. By way of example, I have
copied a few advertisements from yesterday's Morning Call.
Exceptionally Important News!
Complications with France and England! !
Outbreak of Nicaraguan War! ! !
Walker and the Filibusters! ! ! !
According to the latest private telegrams, a great war is in the offing. England will
blockade the ocean, and all prices will rise fabulously. Because of his respect for the
public, the undersigned has decided to sell his goods at unusually low prices until the
outbreak of war, and he expects the public to stock up on boots and shoes at his ware-
house, considering that he is sacrificing much by offering his boots at prices lower than
he paid for them. Et cetera.
Here is another:
The St. Louis Post Has Arrived!
Unheard-of and Strange News! ! [Sketch of Pony Express]
Wonderful and Unexpected News! ! !
The undersigned respectfully gives notice that this morning he intends to open his cafe.
California for Hu?igarian Readers 1 3 7
the Overland Mail Salvu, and from lo a.m. to 2 p.m. invites the public to a sumptuous
luncheon, during which time French, German, and Hungarian wines will be served at
low prices. Do not forget the place. ^
David Angelis.
As this is the only way to prosper here, it frequently happens that before
one opens a business he offers $ 100 or more to the writers of advertisements,
and, just as in works submitted in a prize contest, here too judges are ap-
pointed to select the best advertisement. If one wins many of these prizes,
he becomes just as famous as any laureate dramatist or ballad poet in our
own country.
My friend Pal Kovacs would say, "As many houses, so many customs" —
and he is right.
VII
San Francisco, February 4, [1859]
Thirty Hungarians now live in San Francisco alone. I should say, people
fro?n Hungary, because two-thirds of them are Jews. Very few of them
speak Hungarian and they have boasted of being Hungarians only as long
as being a Hungarian was advantageous. . . .
The Gr. [of] V. [as] gold smelting plant, of which I informed the Hun-
garian public extensively some few years ago (cf. Levelei Ejszakamerikdbol)
has fallen upon evil days. In the absence of S. [amu] V. [as] and Molitor the
partners who remained here (Haraszthy and Usznay) engaged in perilous
speculations and soon the formerly rosy condition of the plant became so
complicated that operations had to be suspended. It is too bad that V. and
Molitor could not have returned at that time; they would have set everything
right with their clear and calculating natures. But it is too late now. The
business cannot be helped. Molitor, it is true, returned from London, but
only after his whole fortune had gone up in smoke. At present the poor
man is back where he started when he first came to California a few years
ago, and is now beginning anew. A few days ago he opened a refinery
across from the United States Mint with his younger brother, and their busi-
ness is doing fairly well again.
Usznay bought a silver mine in Lower California near La Paz and will
go down in a few days personally to take over the management of the mine.
Agoston Haraszthy has finally given up all reckless speculation once and
for all (which did not become a Hungarian judge anyhow), and is living
on his estate in Sonoma, growing grapes, making wine, and breeding calves,
and so on, and I am convinced that in a few years he will get further than
he did with his gold smelting. . . .
I cannot fail to mention an excellent compatriot of ours here named Jozsef
Voros.^^ When I last saw Joe in St. Louis a few years ago, he had just mar-
ried and was as poor as a church mouse. With a few pennies belonging to
1 3 8 California Historical Society Quarterly
him and his wife he bought a box of hats and caps, and moved to California
to seek his fortune. Now he has two houses in the best part of town, and he
owns a large hat factory connected with the most important hat warehouse
in the city. Beyond this he has some capital, too. My friend has three children
and is expecting a fourth. His first was born at sea while his wife was on
her way here. Our countryman Voros was born in Abauj.
There is a countryman of ours in San Francisco who is living proof of the
fact that business minds can be found in Hungary, too. His name is Putzer^^
and he was born in Pecs. He is so typically Hungarian that he can hardly
speak German, and English not at all, though he has been in this country for
three years. When our compatriot Putzer first heard that Hungarian wines
enjoy a good sale in America, he sold all his real and personal property,
bought Hungarian wines, loaded them on board ship at Triest with all his
belongings, and sailed to California. Arriving here— how, he himself does
not know — he sold his wine at a handsome profit, lit his pipe, and with a
truly Hungarian gesture went back home for some more. He returned not
long ago and again sold his wine at fancy prices. If my readers knew that
Putzer is now exactly sixty years old, speaks nothing but Hungarian, was a
butcher all his life in Pecs, yet still dared to sink his whole fortune in such a
risky and perilous venture, and twice made the trip around Cape Horn —
which totals about 40,000 miles— they will doubtless marvel, and along with
me will sincerely wish that success may continue to crown the efforts of our
countryman Putzer.
In spite of all this, Putzer has grown tired of tramping over the ocean,
and since he learned that he could send money home, he is arranging to have
the wine sent here, thus eliminating the necessity of making the voyages
himself.
Putzer rented a huge cellar in the center of the city, where he sells wine
at retail and by the drink. He has a billiard table and quite a few customers,
most of them Austrians, Saxons, and Prussians.
In American cafes and saloons the custom prevails of keeping the table
spread all day long with various meats and vegetables; the customers may
eat as much as they like — free. The owner, on the other hand, expects all
those who have eaten to drink, and since the drinks must be paid for, it can
be seen that the owner loses nothing. In spite of that, this way of living is
cheap, and there are many men in America who live in these places alone.
Everyone may eat as much as he likes; then he drinks something for which
in San Francisco he pays only iiYz cents — that is, about 20 krajcars — the
smallest coin in circulation. If one lives like this, two meals a day are enough,
and they cost 25 cents, while in hotels one pays 75 cents, or even a dollar,
for meals which are frequently worse.
Naturally, our countryman Putzer has such a table, too, though it is some-
times hard to convince him that he should "feed those farmers for nothing! "
California for Hungarian Readers 1 3 9
His table is exclusively Hungarian — smoked sausages, stuffed cabbage, rolled
curd cakes, and gulyas are on the daily menu. Yesterday he had paprikas
fish and soup in my honor, and we were fortunate that no one beside our-
selves could eat it. Their tongues burned with the mere tasting. The fish
soup was very good and made of ten or twelve sea fish, but at that Putzer
cannot stand sea fish. He asserts that if he could be sure that he could bring
back some pike, carp, and shad from Baranya county for hatching, he
would gladly go home once more, sparing neither expense nor trouble.
Another original Hungarian idea!
VIII
San Francisco, February 6, [1859]
When the Panama steamer arrived yesterday I received a large bundle of
Hungarian newspapers, and I need hardly say that I did nothing in the last
twenty-four hours but read the Magyar sajto [Hungarian Pre5^], the Mag-
yar neplap [Hungarian People's Paper] ^ and the Vasdrnapi ujsdg [Sunday
News]. My attention was especially drawn to reprinted articles on the
twelfth and thirteenth pages of the supplement "Politikai ujdonsagok"
["Politcal News"] of the last-named paper. One of them was a letter of my
friend Imre Nagy, "Our wine trade with America," in the winegrower's
journal, and the other was S. W. Sellers's fourth letter to the editor of the
Gazdasdgi lapok [Agricultural Paper] .
Having touched upon our compatriot Putzer's wine business here in my
last letter, I received the articles at just the right time to comment on the
subject according to my understanding and, of course, my experience, of it.
I, too, heartily agree with Mr. Sellers when he says that shipment by water
is the cheapest, and that if a boat is loaded with wine at high water in Pest
it can thereby be sent with least cost to America or to western Europe. I
wholeheartedly agree with the other point also, that if Hungary wishes to
become a commercial country, its first task is to open a free and profitable
trade with other parts of the world.
^^ ^F 'jP' 'w
As long as commercial activity is under supervision and steamboat trans-
portation is a monopoly. Pest will be Pest no matter what business ideas may
prevail. As soon as commerce leaves its infancy and reaches manhood, and
when shipping becomes a private business, then, whether there are any
enterprising men or not, Hungarian commerce will flourish and the new
institutions will supply the entrepreneurs a tout prix.
In many ways my friend, Imre Nagy, speaks correctly when he says that
a European businessman is not a businessman in America, that the Hun-
garian wine trade can no longer be carried on in America as it was before,
and that there are American wine merchants who strike bargains of $400,000
a year if they find the right party. For a long time Imre Nagy was in close
1 40 Calijornia Historical Society Quarterly
connection with a New York wine merchant by the name of Freund and
he doubtless speaks from experience, but I am sure that an American would
never buy $400,000 worth of Hungarian wine so that he might make a
profit on it; but he would buy $400,000 worth of Hungarian wine, and
even more, on long-term credit so that he could sink the clear profit made
on the price of the wine into another business, the rapid turnover of which
would enable him to pay for the wine in about twelve or eighteen months.
Hungarian wine is not asked for at all in America. The Americans are
accustomed to port and sherry, and generally drink sweet wines only. The
Americans like novelty and it is for this reason alone that things Hungarian
came into fashion. But even if a rich American floods his table with American
wines for his guests, you will rarely see him drink them. Instead, he drinks
madeira, sherry, or Rhenish champagne. It is beyond doubt that the sweet
Hungarian wines, especially the asszu variety, would find a ready market
in America if the wine merchants could ship them here at the same cost as
the Spanish and Portuguese wines; and buyers could be counted on even if
high prices were asked for small quantities.
The present American generation will never drink the so-called dry wines.
In this respect one could count only on the ten million or so foreigners living
in America who, beside Rhine wines, drink a great deal of Bordeaux. On the
other hand, the consuming public has become accustomed to low prices,
and the budai, egri, villdnyi, neszinelyi, kobdnyai, and somlyai wines could
compete with French wines only if they could be shipped and sold here at
correspondingly low prices. And the French wines are very inexpensive in
America. In New Orleans, for example, ordinary table Bordeaux (St. Julien,
Rouge, or Claret )can be obtained for ii-iiYi cents a bottle and 30 cents a
gallon! This price prevails, with little or no difference, in the other parts
of America.
Another question remains: can the Hungarian merchant or company
place a gallon of neszmelyi, villdnyi, or szegszdrdi wine on the market here
for 30 cents? If they can, they may easily sell not only $400,000 worth but
even $1,000,000 worth; if not, then their business will never develop and
they will sell a barrel or two now and then to such persons who buy Hun-
garian wine just so that they, too, may have some Hungarian wine.
Putzer sells all Hungarian wines at a dollar a bottle, or twelve bottles for
$9, but I must say that up till now he has sold hardly a gallon to an American.
Generally Frenchmen, Germans, and Hungarians drink and buy his wine,
and almost half his supply was purchased by the local Austrian consul, to-
gether with his friends. Putzer will always be able to sell his wine in small
amounts like this, but if he keeps a large stock on hand, or if someone com-
petes with him, he is certain to lose unless he buys his wine more cheaply
or has it sent at less cost. Putzer's szegszdrdi wine (though it is very ordi-
nary) costs ^^ cents a gallon as sent here. Shipment and sale of this kind can,
California for Hungarian Readers 1 4 1
naturally, be profitable only on a small scale; certain disaster would follow
dealing in large quantities.
For the correction of misinformed opinion it is necessary to remark that
ocean shipment does not in the least harm Hungarian wine or alter its flavor.
I have tasted almost all the Hungarian wines both here and in Philadelphia
and New York, and have found that they have the same quality and bouquet
as similar types at home.
Putzer's plum brandy is especially good and extremely popular, and is
almost the only article in his cellar which the Americans grab, taking it
away in a few days' time at $4 a gallon. I think we could sell at least twenty
thousand gallons of good plum brandy here at any price. Sailors, especially,
like it and would rather drink it than French or California cognac.
Janos Xantus
NOTES
1. Smithsonian Institution, Afinual Report of the Board of Regents, 1858, p. 51.
2. The California Academy of Natural Sciences was organized in 1853, the Mercantile
Library Association in 1853, and the Mechanics' Institute in 1855. (San Francisco
Directory, 1856.)
3. Although Xantus's figures are not exactly accurate, they are a reasonably correct
statement of this fluid commodity.
4. A silver florin, worth $0.48.
5. Agoston Molitor was an officer in the Hungarian army during the war for inde-
pendence. In San Francisco he was associated with Wass and Uznay in coining enter-
prises. He claimed to have spent two years in Lower California.
6. Janos Szabo is the source of some confusion. He arrived in California in 1854.
In 1857 he was involved in the trial of Isador and Hermann Blum, who were charged
with conspiring to extort money from him, believing him a mint defaulter and in their
power. In 1859 he returned to Hungary. H. H. Bancroft, in California Inter Pocula
(San Francisco, 1888), p. 342, gives his name as T. A. Szabo; and a T. A. Szabo is listed
by S. F. Baird in Birds of North America (Philadelphia, i860), as a collector of birds at
Bodega in 1855 (consult index).
7. Agoston Haraszthy was born about 181 2 at Futtak in Hungary. He migrated to
Wisconsin in 1840, returned to Hungary in 1842 in order to remove his family, resettled
in Wisconsin, and in 1849 came overland with his family to California. In 1852 he com-
menced vine planting near San Francisco, and expanded his vineyards at Sonoma in 1857.
He removed to Nicaragua in 1866, and died there in 1869.
8. Count Samu Wass (1814-1879) was twice in the United States during the years
1850-1859. In San Francisco he established the firm of Wass, Molitor & Company, and
commenced issuing coins in 1852. The firm of Wass, Uznay & Company was listed in
the San Francisco Directory, 1856-1857. In 1862 Mor Rath, the pubhsher of Pest, issued
Wass's Kilencz ev egy szcmiuzott eletebol [Nine Years in the Life of an Emigrant]
which, unfortunately, does not treat of his experiences in San Francisco.
9. Karoly Uznay was associated with Wass and Molitor in various coining and assay-
ing enterprises. ,
10. Xantus was in error in referring to Arpad Haraszthy as the "younger brother" of
1 42 California Historical Society Quarterly
Agoston Haraszthy; Arpad was the third son of Agoston. He was born in Futtak, Hun-
gary, on June 28, 1840, and was taken to Wisconsin by his father about the year 1842.
He came to California with his father in 1849. In 1852 he was sent to school in the
eastern states, and in 1857 he returned to California. After 1870 he was one of the lead-
ing viticulturists of California. Arpad Haraszthy died on Nov. 15, 1900.
11. Not identified.
12. Lajos Czapkay was born in Kisszeben, Hungary, in 1830. In 1849, after the Hun-
garian war for independence, he went to Turkey, and thence to the United States.
After working as a pharmacist in Philadelphia he moved to San Francisco. There he
conducted a "Grand Medical and Surgical Institute for the Permanent Cure of all
Private and Chronic Diseases, and the Suppression of Quackery" at Armory Hall, at
the corner of Montgomery and Sacramento Streets. His advertisements, which appeared
even in newspapers of the mining regions, proclaimed him "late in the Hungarian
Revolutionary War, Chief Physician to the 20th Regiment of Honveds, Chief Surgeon
to the Military Hospital of Pesth, Hungary, and late Lecturer on Diseases of Women
and Children." He was naturalized in 1856, and in 1866 was appointed United States consul
at Bucharest, where he served from May 1867, to October 1868. He resigned his office
in San Francisco on June 30, 1869. Czapkay died at Portland, Oregon, on May 27, 1882.
13. Not identified.
14. Mention of a "state university" at this date was premature; perhaps Xantus re-
ferred to the medical department of the University of the Pacific. The Pacific Medical
and Surgical Journal was established in 1858.
15. Perhaps the Pacific Museum, at the northeast corner of Kearny and Clay Streets.
16. The Gazette, published by Wheelock and Wilcocks, at 66 Merchant Street.
17. The Mercantile Library Association had 1200 members in 1859, and the terms of
admission were an initiation fee of $5 and a monthly fee of $1. Xantus's other figures
should be revised in the light of this information.
18. Le Phare, Journal Franco-Calif ornien, published from 1855 to 1863.
19. The Herald. Xantus's statistics should not be regarded as accurate.
20. Jozsef Voros appeared in directories of San Francisco from 1856 until 1904 as
Joseph Wores, hatter. From 1856 through 1859 he manufactured hats at 161 Washing-
ton Street.
21. Jozsef Putzer came to California in 1857. In 1859 he was listed as selling Hungarian
wines at the corner of Sansome and Commercial Streets. In i860 he resided near
Mountain View, in Santa Clara County, and occupied himself as a farmer with 164 acres.
Preservation of the State Archives
By J. N. Bowman
INTRODUCTION
A LEGISLATIVE ACT approved May 15, 1947,^ provided that
/— m all reports from county and city officials and individuals which have been in the
jL JL custody of the Controller for a period of five years may be destroyed. When
they are in excess of fifteen years, the Controller may also destroy after they have been
microfilmed claims upon which warrants have been issued, canceled warrants, and other
records involving the expenditure of state money. Microfilming before destruction of
the documents herein mentioned need not be done if in the opinion of the Controller
and the Director of Finance there is no need to preserve a record of the documents to
be destroyed. This section does not apply to books of original entry.
In putting the act into effect, some misunderstanding and a few erroneous
ideas have arisen within the state as to what was being done; to counteract
them, this paper presents a short statement of the progress actually made.
In August 1947 the preliminary work of putting the new act into effect
was begun and by the end of the year had progressed to a point where a
crew of clerks could be put to work early in 1948. The controller, with the
approval of the director of finance, authorized the destruction of all claim
papers of the first fifty fiscal years and, later, those from this period to the
end of the legal limit in the early 1930's. Fortunately the directions of the
controller were not carried out in full. The archivists in charge decided to
preserve intact all claim papers, warrants and receipts of the first two fiscal
years, from 1849 to 1851, together with the original paid state bonds and
the Indian war loan bonds. After these first two years, they preserved, as
historical or museum curiosities, only such claims as struck the clerks as of
historical interest; these included claims relative to the purchase or release of
state lands, relief warrants paid to Sutter and to Marshall, claims relative to
the Great Seal, to the rocks for the Washington Monument, to the capture
of Joaquin Murieta, Black Bart and a few other highwaymen, and claims of
similar isolated historical incidents. These claims, extending from the 3d to
the 64th fiscal years, excluding three years, are not numerous.
The controller and the director of finance also passed upon the destruc-
tion of claims older than fifteen years, excluding the payrolls from 1893
onward; but before the actual destruction, the secretary of state, on the
basis of the last part of the paragraph of the above act and of article 6 of
chapter 1556 of an act passed two months later creating the state record
depository,^ decided to have these discarded claims examined for their pos-
sible historical value to historians, statisticians, economists, and general re-
searchers. The papers (exclusive of those retained by the archivists and
clerks, as mentioned above), that had already been sent to the Stockton paper
H3
1 44 California Historical Society Quarterly
mill for destruction, reached from the 3d to the 38th fiscal year, or from
July 1 85 1 to July 1887; and when the task of sorting began on May ist,
there were also ready for shipment to Stockton 140 cartons-^ of claims and
warrants reaching from 1887 to 1908. On request, the shipment was delayed
for an investigation of the contents for their possible historical value.
GENERAL NATURE OF CLAIMS
The claims were with a few exceptions all those presented to the state
for payment for materials and services rendered, together with all necessary
supporting papers. For current use all payrolls were extracted from the
claims from 1893 onward, that year being taken as the earliest possible year
whose payroll could affect any present or former living employee of the
state. After the payrolls were extracted from the claims, the remaining
papers were often in such a dilapidated condition that preservation was
impossible; in other words, after the payrolls were taken out, what remained
was considered and treated as waste paper.
THE QUESTION OF SPACE
The present vaults in the capitol building are well filled with papers and
books of record, and the two floors of the warehouse allocated to the
archives are crowded to capacity, so that departments are requested to send
no more papers at present to relieve their own crowded condition. One of
the two floors of the warehouse is occupied almost wholly by the con-
troller's claims and warrants. No other space has been found available in
Sacramento and, as will be noted below, none was found in the University of
California nor in San Francisco. Less than half of the state departments at
present have papers or books in the archives; the other departments, to-
gether with those which have deposited materials, have a filing congestion
and are waiting for the moment when they can get relief by sending material
to the archives; and each new fiscal year means the addition of an abundance
of papers for the archives to preserve for the legal or traditional period of
years. The present warehouse just cannot take it. Space, then, was and is
the determining and limiting factor. The claims must be reduced in bulk,
however irretrievable the historical loss may be.
THE PROCESS OF SAMPLING
To meet this limiting condition of space, a double sampling method was
put into practice. First came the selection of characteristic samples of the
various groups of institutions, departments, boards, and divisions, represent-
ing the activities of the state over a long period of time and having a wide
geographic distribution. The great value of the claims is in the details of the
kinds, names, quantities, brands, and costs of materials furnished and of the
services rendered. The preserved books of record of the controller and
the treasurer give, among the recorded items, only a very general statement
of the object of the claims for which warrants were issued and paid. If the
Preservation of the State Archives 1 45
actual claim has no break-down of details beyond the record-book entry, its
destruction is practically no loss. In addition to the historical value of the
details of materials and services, there are the names and addresses and also
often the pictures of the establishments on the billheads of the vendors, the
departments or establishments using the services and materials, the signa-
tures, the change in the form of bills, the names and addresses of persons
rendering services of specific kinds, together with places and dates of opera-
tions. After a trial with sampled cartons of discarded claims, about 1 5 groups
were selected; among them were San Quentin, Chico Normal School,
Whittier School, Stockton Hospital, the capitol building, the governor's
residence, orphans, and highways. For these groups, all salvageable claims
were taken from the cartons of waste from 1887 onward, as were also the
payrolls from 1887 to 1893. This group is designated All-Year-Samples, as
those claims selected from 1849 to 1887 are designated Samples.
The second of the double-sampling selection is named Annual Samples
and is composed of one or several claims, by calendar as well as by fiscal
years, of the various departments, divisions, boards, institutions and estab-
lishments, but excluding claims made only for stamps, postal cards, travel
expenses, and those containing no break-down of details. Beginning with the
66th fiscal year, 1 9 1 4- 1 5, the clerks took over the task of pulling out all claims
of the All-Year-Sample group, after they had extracted the payrolls. The
Annual Samples were selected from a number of cartons taken at random
in the middle of the first and second halves of each fiscal year.
The future researcher will naturally use the books of record of the con-
troller and of the treasurer when studying the salvaged claims. For the
historian it is assumed that the present trend of Kulturgeschichte, or history
of civilization, will continue and be intensified in California studies — what
the people used, the kinds and character of materials and services sold and
rendered to the state, and the details of the activities of the various parts of
the state organization. The All-Year-Sample claims, so far as salvageable,
will give the details of one establishment of its group, while the Annual
Sample claims will give details of each category for a few instances of a
calendar and fiscal year, on the basis of which it will be possible to infer the
details of a full year from the claims of the kindred All-Year Samples. The
economist and the statistician will naturally make the books of record the
basis of their studies and use the available salvaged claims for details. Except-
ing for a few tables for scattered years, no statistics of the state activity in
the care of orphans and aged exist prior to 1927; the salvaged claims will
make possible such a study back to 1887 — but a study back to the 1850's is
now impossible from the controller's papers. From the claims of the first two
fiscal years it is known that the legislature and the Supreme Court were still
using black sand as well as blotting paper, and also requisitioning goose
quills as well as steel pens during those years, but when the state ceased to
1 46 California Historical Society Quarterly
purchase these articles cannot be determined — the claims were destroyed.
When the state bought its first typewriter and its first automotive vehicle
and equipment cannot be learned from the claims — they also have been
destroyed. A century from now, new methods of mechanical writing and
possibly of atomic lighting and energy will make students as interested in
the present typewriters and business machines, and in the present electric
lighting, equipment and motive power as we are now interested in the earlier
use of black sand and goose quills.
The highway claims of the All-Year-Samples have increased so much in
bulk that from the 64th fiscal year onward a second sampling had to be
introduced — a few samples taken from all monthly groups of claims of each
highway division of the state, of the headquarters, and of the progress
reports. With this further reduction in the bulk of the salvaged claims, the
quantity still is large, even though amounting only to about 8 per cent of
the originals to the end of the 7 2d fiscal year. To reduce the bulk still
further in order to conform to the limited available space, the salvaged
claims are being prepared for microfilming; when this filming is finished,
the originals will all be destroyed except the papers of the first two fiscal
years and the few cartons of samples of controller's claims by years. Before
this microfilming was considered, an attempt was made to find space for the
discarded papers in some other state institution: the Bancroft Library, the
economics department and the bureau of municipal research of the Uni-
versity of California had no available space, and the same condition was
found in San Francisco.
Aside from the controller's claims, about 200 cartons of other controller
papers have been released by him and the director of finance for destruc-
tion—correspondence of the 1920's to early 1940's (all earlier correspond-
ence was long ago destroyed), copies of reports, reports of county auditors
and treasurers, reports of other departments and agencies of which the
controller was a member, tabulations of data to answer specific departmental
questions, and similar papers. Lack of space demanded a reduction of their
bulk. Only annual samples of the correspondence of these few years could
be retained in order to indicate the nature of the correspondence carried on
by the controller annually through this period. And only those papers,
reports, and tabulations were saved which were not found to be duplicated
by originals or copies in the various departments concerned. In many cases
the departments were glad to receive some of the papers to fill out their own
broken series and files.
Aside from the controller's claims and papers, only one other group of
papers has been examined — the two sets of governor's papers in about 500
cartons, all of which are to be retained. So the only destruction of archive
material made under the 1947 act has been confined to the controller's claims
and papers. Spectacular as this destruction may seem, the bulk destroyed
Preservatioji of the State Archives 1 47
would have been very much greater had not the law made it possible for the
secretary of state to have all the papers, authorized for destruction by the
department head and the director of finance, pass through an investigation
for their possible historical use a century or more in the future. Under the
law the final word for destruction is now given only after this investigation
has been completed. Were space not the limiting factor as to the quantity
of material that might be saved, another method of reduction of the destroy-
able paper would naturally be used. It is unfortunate that so many of the
claims had to be destroyed, but the limited space for storage left no
alternative.
HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE INVOLVED
The present apparent "destruction of the archives" can best be under-
stood by placing it in its historical relation to the loss of the archives in the
earlier years. In the early days of the state, a great interest was taken in the
archives, both those of the new state and of the former Spanish-Mexican
government. The latter were objects of legislative action from 1850 to 1858:
the securing of the Mexican archives in Monterey, their removal to the
custody of the secretary of state, their final release to the federal govern-
ment in 1858, and the transcription and translation of the land grant papers
from 1866 to 1 87 1.* For the state archives, the first legislative act, that of
January 5, 1850,^ provided for their acquisition from the state founded in
1849; and funds were later voted for their removal from San Jose to Vallejo,
Benicia, and Sacramento.^ During all these years the secretary of state was
the custodian of these papers, and for them in 1889 funds were voted for
the building of vault M in the capitol building; the vault was completed in
1891.^ The archives then in the custody of the secretary of state were, in
addition to the ones noted above, those of his own department and of the
governor's office, together with some books of record of other departments
principally of the controller and the treasurer. The other departments, and
the new ones as created, were in charge of their own archives, and each
determined in its own way what to retain and what to destroy. By tradition,
all books of record were retained, but the papers, reports, correspondence,
etc., were destroyed. It was not until April 13, 1927, that a check was placed
on this indiscriminate destruction of departmental papers. On that date the
legislature passed an act^ providing that
unless otherwise provided for by law, the head of any state department, with the
approval of the Department of Finance, is hereby authorized to destroy or otherwise
dispose of any or all records of such department, after they have served their purpose
and are no longer required.
This law was re-enacted on July 15, 1939.^
REVIEW OF RELEVANT LEGISLATION
Such was the unorganized condition of the various archives of the state
when the present secretary of state, Frank M. Jordan, then assistant secretary
1 48 California Historical Society Quarterly
during his father's administration, became active in promoting legislation for
the state archives. The first legislation, the state archives act, looking for-
ward to the creation of a centralized depository, was passed on July 18,
1939.^'' In this act is found the legal beginnings of the conception of an all-
state archives; the secretary of state was authorized to receive from a state
agency or otherwise any papers or records "that he deems to be of historical
value and shall receive into the archives any other items from a state agency
if directed to do so by the State Department of Finance"; and he could,
with the approval of the department of finance, at any time return to the
agency from ^\•hich it was received any item so received, which he did not
deem of historical value. For the first time, the title of "keeper of the
archives" was created. This act of 1939 thus widened on a voluntary basis
the archives from a purely department of state archives to one that included
the records of other departments, and for the first time indicated the factor
of "historical value" with respect to the various records. It also laid the basis
for the present archives, established by act of iVpril 27, 1945^^ {Governvtent
Code, art. 4, sec. 1222 1), which declared the secretary of state to be cus-
todian of the public archives of the state and provided for the necessarv^
vault-space to care for them and for their indexing.
The acts of 1947, already mentioned, further widened the scope of the
archives. On the basis of these acts, the t^vo floors of the warehouse used
merely as the depository of records are being changed into an archives. The
papers stored in cartons filed on wooden shelves have been replaced by
10,534 legal-size steel cabinets and 5,600 steel cases for the controller's war-
rants; office space is provided for a small staff and for searchers and re-
searchers; in a few months the transition from a warehouse to an archives
will be completed, and as rapidly as the legislature provides funds for space
and for more steel cases the records of the departments, divisions, and boards
may be received. Some further legislation necessary for the full administra-
tion of the archives is under consideration.
At present, less than 50% of the state departments, divisions, boards,
agencies, and establishments have deposited any papers, records or books
w^th the archives; as soon as space permits and arrangements are completed,
many of these agencies will relieve their own congested filing space by mak-
ing transfers to the archives, and any destruction of papers and records will
be done through the archives after these records and papers have been
investiorated for their historical value.
From the i86o's to 1927 the individual department, excluding the depart-
ment of state, decided the question of destruction of records; fortunately
by tradition the books of record were retained. An irretrievable loss to re-
searchers was made in this destruction of historical papers. The departments
judged the destruction wholly on the basis of the possible use by the depart-
ments alone, until a check was placed on the destruction of financial papers
Preservation of the State Archives 1 49
by the act of 1927. And even in the administration of these acts of 1927 and
1939, the approval of the director of finance for the destruction of papers
was and is based (a) on whether all financial papers have been audited by
his department and (b) on the desires of each departmental head for the
destruction of all other papers, records and correspondence, etc.
In the present task of determining the historical value of the controller's
claims and his other papers, contact was made with about one-quarter of
the state departments, divisions, and boards in order to learn if original or
duplicate copies of the papers concerned were in the files of these agencies.
In these interviews it was learned that some of the departments have kept a
great number of their papers and records from the beginning, a few keep
practically everything, including correspondence, while a number discarded
quantities of their papers prior to about 1930. At present there is no uni-
formity as to what is to be retained or for how long; and, as mentioned
above, the only formal basis for the destruction of papers is whether finan-
cial papers have been audited. The present trend, based on the laws of 1945
and 1947, is to center in the archives all archival material of each department
as determined by each department by the infrequency of use, and at the end
of a legal limit for required preservation of papers, each department will
designate those papers, if any, to be retained intact and all others conse-
quently are to be discarded so far as the department is concerned. All the
discarded papers of each department will be reviewed from the historical
point of view and the discards from this inspection will be sent to the paper
mill. But until space and steel cases are provided, the amount of discarded
material is, unfortunately, larger than it should be.
By law, tradition, and the nature of the documents, the papers of the
secretary of state are well preserved, as are also the cases of the Supreme
Court. The papers of the legislature are intact for the first fiscal years, and
an examination will no doubt find them intact for the later years. As men-
tioned above, the books of record for all departments, so far as examined,
are preserved. All financial papers after auditing were approved for destruc-
tion until the last legislature placed a legal period of retention on all con-
troller's claims and other papers. No legal limit of such retention has as yet
been established for all departments, each deciding the question for itself —
a tradition, however, places the period at 4, 5 and 7 years.
SUMMARY
In the early days, the secretary of state was the custodian of the archives;
later he delegated the task to one of his clerks or to the state librarian; not
until 1939 was a keeper of the state archives created, and he, working with-
out assistance, had to handle the expanding archives until 1948. With the
widening of the archives from the department of state to include all state
departments, increased space and personnel have become imperative.
"Archives" formerly meant the papers of the secretary of state and of the
1 50 California Historical Society Quarterly
governor; all other documents formed the files of the various departments.
As the departments discarded what they individually regarded as surplus
paper, no question was raised as to their possible historical value until the
passage of the act of 1939. For ten years — since the act of 1939 — the state has
been gradually developing the state-wide archives, and on the basis of the
act of 1947 has begun the organization of an archives administration. To
carry out the provisions of this act with the funds available, and to make
room, in the space now allotted to the archives, for the material that will
come from the various departments, it is necessary to reduce the bulk of the
papers discardable by law. As already mentioned, the only papers involved
in the meeting of this limiting factor of space are the controller's claims.
Instead of following the permissible provision of the law and destroying all
claims released for destruction beyond the 15-year limitation, a review of
these claims is made and by the sampling process described above about 8%
of the whole bulk has been salvaged. When space and steel are available,
this percentage of the salvaged claims can be raised.
Since 1939 the state has become increasingly conscious of the archives
problem, and the department heads are gradually awakening to the historical
value of their papers after the latter have served all department purposes.
NOTES
1. 1947 Statutes, 818, ch. 252.
2. 1947 Statutes, }igj, July 18, 1947.
3. No. 12 cartons, 24" x 15" x 11", were employed to hold documents until replaced
by steel. They were used to hold the waste material; however, some "bread" cartons,
26" X 18" X 12", served for a few fiscal years, as did also empty sugar and flour bags for a
part of two fiscal years — each bag held about 2/3 of a No. 12 carton. So the average
carton for the whole task may be taken as a No. 12.
4. 1850 Statutes, 466, Joint Resolution, April 9, 1850. 1851 Statutes, 443, ch. 120, May
I, 1851. 1858 Statutes, 357, Joint Resolution, 23, April 16, 1858. 1865-66 Statutes, 312,
ch. 281, March 20, 1866. 1867-68 Statutes, 672, ch. 500, March 30, 1868.
5. 1850 Statutes, 45, ch. i.
6. 1852 Statutes, 54, ch. 17, January 20, 1852; 128, ch. ^$, April 30, 1852; 284, Joint
Resolution, January 16, 1852. 1853 Statutes, 270, ch. 172, May 18, 1853. 1863-64 Statutes,
191, ch. 194, March 18, 1864. 1865-66 Statutes, 312, ch. 281, March 20, 1866.
7. 1880 Statutes, 451, ch. 289, March 25, 1889.
8. i^2j Statutes, 2^^, ch. 126. 9. 1939 Sf^?w?e5, 2314, ch. 784.
ID. 1939 Statutes, 2396, ch. 823. 11. 1945 Statutes, 453, ch. 11.
The Second Incumbency of
Jacques A. Moerenhout
Translated and Edited By A. P. Nasatir
(Concluded)
XXP^
Moerenhout to Minister
Monterey, October i8, 1856
Monsieur le Ministre:
I ended the last despatch which I have had the honor of addressing to
Your Excellency, Direction Politique No. 4,^^ by expressing myself as fol-
lows on the subject of the Vigilance Committee:
"This movement, wholly deplorable as it is because of its illegality, as for
example when it shows contempt for the laws, will have good effects for
the moment only, and unless the general government intervenes it will soon
cease to exist, without other vexatious consequences for this country."
Vigilance CoTwnittee Dissolved. Your Excellency will have been informed
that the federal government not having intervened and the party of law and
order^^ having failed in a trial to have condemned by the United States
district court two members of the committee accused of piracy,^^ all is ended
peacefully. The committee is dissolved, its property has been sold, and the
most perfect order reigns in San Francisco and environs.^^
It is the third time that the inhabitants of San Francisco have had recourse
to this extreme means for stopping great disorders, when imperfect laws or
bad administration appeared powerless to stop the evil or punish the guilty.
Necessity for Lynch Law^^ and Committees in the Nearby Occupied
Provinces. In this same despatch I also tried to demonstrate that, although
regrettable and a very dangerous example for the future of the states with
respect to licentiousness and anarchy, nevertheless these events did not have
in this country either the same appearance or the same consequences that
they would have had in Europe or in any other country. I shall add an obser-
vation which is not without importance, as much because of the imperfect
judicial organization, already mentioned, as because of the incapacity and
bad organization of the police in all the provinces newly occupied by the
Americans, where, more than anywhere else, people dread and refuse the
assistance of armed force; [where] these demonstrations of the masses, these
summary executions by virtue of the lynch law or by order of the Vigilance
Committee, are often imperiously necessary.
Insufficiency of the Police. I will remark in this regard that nowhere in
151
1 5 2 California Historical Society Quarterly
these new countries is there sufficient poHce to maintain order and to protect
the lives and property of the citizens. These agents, always too few in num-
ber even in the cities, are almost absolutely lacking in the villages, hamlets,
[and] isolated places of the interior. To these faults I shall further add that,
not exercising their duties outside of the localities where they have been
named, in requiring extraordinary rewards, their action, always very onerous
with respect to expenditures, is generally slow and ineffective. They can stop
an evil doer, but never prevent any great disorders. They remain powerless
before all organized bands.
It would be entirely otherwise if in these same provinces the people
themselves, weary with the delays of justice, indignant at the audacity and
impunity of the criminals, would rise en masse to deal vigorously with and to
punish crime. Everything would happen then with an energy and a prompt-
ness which would strike with terror the most audacious evil doers. Thus it
was that in 1849 they promptly put an end to the depredations of the
"Hounds"; as well as to the assassinations of the convicts from Sidney in
1 850 and '51. This observation applies equally to the cattle thieves, to whom
a frequent application of lynch law in the interior in 1854 ^^^ ^^SS brought
prompt justice.^*^
Your Excellency should not think that I approve or am trying to excuse
these illegal means which the people in their anger and haste have so often
abused, and of which so many innocent persons have been victims; but
since I am sketching the American manners of the country in which I
reside, I am obliged to conform to the truth. These means, both on account
of the state of the country and for the other causes which I have mentioned,
seem to be really the only ones which can serve to reach the guilty, stop evil,
and re-establish order and tranquility in the cities and counties.
In any case, these crises are only momentary. Already this famous com-
mittee of San Francisco, which for several months had governed in a most
absolute manner, is no longer mentioned and in some ways entirely for-
gotten. But the impulsion which it gave to the action of the judicial courts,
the terror which it inspired in the evil doers of all classes, the actions and the
frauds of certain types of people which it unveiled, the order and peace
which it re-established — all these are beginning to be appreciated as impor-
tant facts [deeds] from which the people will draw much profit. From the
reforms, violent and illegal but of wholesome effect, will begin to date a new
generative era in more than one respect in California. One thing that no one
can surely deny is that before the installation of the last committee all dis-
orders were at their height; theft, pillage, assassination were the order of the
day. Today everything progresses with more or less regularity; crimes are
rare and San Francisco and its environs enjoy the most perfect peace.
The Committee Had No Political Ends.^^ As for the secret ambitions of
Second Incumbency of J. A. Moerenhout 1 5 3
political profits groundlessly attributed at one time to the Vigilance Com-
mittee, it is no longer a question, and no one here takes this fable seriously.
The unanimous opinion among honest people is that the movement was
directed only against disreputable people and criminals, that it was inspired
only by spontaneous indignation on the part of the population; that it will
have only beneficial consequences both for California and the other states
in the Union, even if it be solely from the point of view of the reform of
electoral frauds.
Presidential Elections. The coming presidential, legislative, and municipal
elections,^^ especially those of the first named, appear to absorb everyone
today. For a month or six weeks, there has taken place an extraordinary
movement among all parties. Their agents and their agitators are at work,
committees, clubs of all colors [political faiths] are prominent over the
whole length of the country. The meetings are sometimes secret, sometimes
public. Everywhere people are gathered in assembly. I believe I ought to
point out that in this respect everyone in the United States is occupied with
public things; and to facilitate the participation of all classes of the popula-
tion, meetings of committees, clubs, and mass meetings take place in the
evening after cessation of work.
Here, as in the other states of the Union, three parties are disputing pre-
eminence today and are hoping to elevate their candidates to the presidency.
Each of these parties is making its efforts correspond with those of their
co-religionists [corelegionnaires] of the other states, as well as with those
of the cities or counties of this region, so as to bring about the nomination
of its candidates to the vacant public offices. This electoral chase runs over
every degree of the scale from the high functions of senators and repre-
sentatives at Washington to the administrative, legislative, and municipal
offices of the state.
Democratic Tarty. Until 1855 the first in line, the Democratic party,
has been the most numerous and the most influential in this country. This
party is divided into two camps which can be classified as interested and
disinterested. The latter attach themselves to the party and love it for itself;
that is to say, for its name and its principles. They are in favor of self-
government, jealous of the general [federal] government; and, always fear-
ing some usurpation of power, they work constantly to lessen the central
power. The end to which they hold constantly and which they avow, is the
almost absolute independence of the states in the federation, and the inde-
pendence of the cormnune within the state.
As for the other division, the interested ones, they are composed of several
series, namely: (i) all the employees of the federal government at the cus-
tom house, at the post office, etc., who have no other hope for keeping their
places than by maintaining in power the party to which they belong; (2) all
1 54 California Historical Society Quarterly
the Democratic employees of the state, counties, and cities, who, in case of
success, divide the profits thus gained with those who owe their nomina-
tions to them in the legislature, judiciary, and municipality, etc.
Aside from these classes, there are today a considerable number of per-
sons who have joined this party through consideration for its presidential
candidate, Mr. Buchanan, whom thev judge to be the most capable man to
take the direction of affairs in this difficult moment and to maintain the
Union of the states.
The great fault of the party, especially in this country, is that it is too old,
has only the same men to put forward, can offer no bait to new candidates,
and yet finds it impossible to satisfy all the old demands. The Democratic
partv does not know how to appease the thirst of all the ambitious persons,
the numerous office hunters, politicians, orators, election swindlers, nearly
all disreputable and corrupt men who for five or six years have shared the
public offices as well as the revenues of the state. It is menaced with a schism,
and if the new^s from the Atlantic continues to be favorable to the Repub-
lican party, it will probably undergo a serious defection, even in the ranks of
its oldest partisans and most intense members.
Republican Farty. This party is new in this country and has for its first
nucleus all the abolitionists of the North, who, guided only by fanatical,
extremely violent sentiments, demand the abolition of slavery quand fneme.
To this partv^ are joined the Know Nothings, the conservatives, especially
those who, without formally stipulating the abolition of slavery in the states
where it exists, wish to stop the extension of this plague of the Union.
In California it also includes a great number of partisans not in sympathy
with its principles, but who are tired of the disorders which reign in this
countr}^ and desire its moral reform [through] the election of honest men,
in order to put an end to the spoliation, the thefts and corruption, so general
and so disgusting, of the preceding administrations.
The Republican party also has the sympathy of all those who desire
internal improvements or the establishment of the railroad from the Atlantic
to the Pacific, and who in this country depend only upon the election of Mr.
Fremont^^ for the prompt execution of this national work so important for
California.^* Reinforced by all these auxiliaries, this part)^ is already very
numerous, and, if it does not triumph, it will dispute very closely with the
Democratic party for the election of President, as well as for the nomina-
tions to the administrative and municipal offices of the state.
Farty of Know Nothings. ^^ This party today no longer enjoys the ad-
vantages which last year permitted it to win the nomination for governor
and for several magistrates and legislators. Its influence and its credit are
much diminished. This check is principally due to the fact that the greater
part of its elected men, even the most notable, have openly rivalled in
Second Incumbency of J. A. Moerenhout 1 5 5
incapacity and immorality those of the party to which they were the suc-
cessors and called themselves the regenerators.
Today, discontent against this party is general. Those who without shar-
ing its principles had accorded it a temporary support, in the hope of seeing
it realize some reforms, are deserting it with the intention of going to swell
the ranks of the Republican party. The increase which the Democratic
party gains from this defection is trifling enough. The expected retirement
of Mr. Fillmore will be the signal for a general collapse.^^
Consequently, the struggle in this state is restricted to the two parties,
the Democratic and the Republican. At present it is impossible to say which
will win. Both parties are making unheard of endeavors. They are sparing
neither work nor expense. Everything depends upon the news which will
be received from the eastern states by the next mail; for a very large avant-
partie [vanguard], of whose antecedents there has been no mention, is made
up of persons indifferent as to political principles or profession, which they
change according to circumstances. In great contests these people, who obey
only the inspiration of purest egotism, never decide until the last moment
and [then] always in favor of the strongest or the most favored.
Position of California in the Case of a Civil War.^'^ I shall not touch here
upon the great political questions which are preoccupying public attention
in the United States at this time. According to certain competent men they
are pregnant with a civil war, the first act of which would be the rupture
of the Union. In the two principal and great divisions, the North and the
South, it is easy to recognize factions so excited that to attain their ends they
would not dare to be deterred by fear of consequences. One of these factions
and that which can be designated by the title of pure abolitionists [is]
capable of losing all precaution in the pursuit of its aims. The retirement of
Fillmore, if it takes place, will considerably increase this faction of the
Republican party. Nevertheless, it is doubtful if these exalted ones can carry
with them the mass of the Republicans or of the inhabitants of the North.
The other faction, more deserving of the name of party for it counts all
the inhabitants of the slave states without exception or dissent, is neither less
excited nor less formidable. Its force resides principally in the unanimity of
the views and sentiments which inspire it. The phantom of disunion fright-
ens this faction less than it frightens the North. The men of the South will
perhaps be more prompt than their antagonists to provoke a rupture; and
the first day of hostilities will find them united as one man.
The state of California is less interested in these debates than any other
state in the Union. It feels that slavery is an impossibility here, for the simple
reason that it would be more detrimental than it would be useful. In 1 849,
it was rejected unanimously by the constituents.^® As emigrants from all the
states of the Union and from all the nations of the earth have formed in Cali-
fornia a medley of workers, the question of slavery is much less likely to be
1 5 6 California Historical Society Quarterly
agitated and to create great animosities, for we have here only a very small
number either of abolitionists or of men from the South interested in main-
taining and extending slavery. Their influence is almost nil.
California is not absolutely indifferent; but that she is less agitated by
these important questions than the other states of the Union is a fact easy
to attest. Cannot one look for the cause of this almost indifferent attitude of
California in the fact that, isolated and exiled so far, it has an existence of
special interests almost entirely outside of those which occupy so many of
the other states— [an existence] for which the future prepares a develop-
ment on a large scale.
No one among the Americans here is indifferent to the events which are
approaching a crisis, for all wish to preserve the Union. But without agitat-
ing yet as to the question of their particular position, everyone feels that
neither the separation of the states nor the maintenance of their Union would
affect it very directly. The first of these events could, at most, only awaken
the idea of independence in this part of the country. As I have had the honor
of saying, it is not only that public opinion is preoccupied with its eventu-
ality at this hour, but it is very probable that it [the public] is sleeping with
a secret state in the background of more than one mind, and that the events
which they fear, if Mr. Fremont is elected, would not be realized. In fact,
it is very probable that if civil war should break out between the states of
the North and the South, California would continue peacefully the exploita-
tion of its mines and its numerous other resources, and would venture its
independence if the separation of the states was irrevocably proclaimed.
Many people think that if Mr. Fremont is elected, the South will hold a
convention and will declare itself [independent?], or will separate itself
provisionally from the North. In this attitude it will await the propositions
of the North, which will probably lead to the reestablishment of the old
compromise, latitude 36° 30 N, as the limit of the slave states.
Accept the homage of respect with which I have the honor of being.
Monsieur le Ministre, Your Excellency's very humble and very obedient
servant.
Addressed: J. A. Moerenhout
A Son Excellence Consul of France
Monsieur le Ministre des Affaires Etr anger es a Paris
XXIP^
Brevet de Vice Consul de France a Los Angeles
pour le Sieur Moerenhout (Jacques Antoine), Consul Honoraire
In the name of His Majesty,
the Emperor of the French
We, Abel Frederic Gautier,^°° chevalier of the Imperial Order of the
Second Incumbency of J, A. Moerenhout 1 5 7
Legion of Honor, commander and chevalier of many foreign orders, consul
of the first class, consul of France with residence at San Francisco, invested
by article 39, title VI, of the ordinance of August 20, 1833, with the right of
delegating agents in our consular arrondissement, having judged useful for
the good of the service to provide for the employment of a vice consul of
France at Los Angeles, county of Los Angeles, state of California, have by
the virtue of the special authority given to us to that effect by the Ministre
Secretaire cfEtat in the department of foreign affairs under date of May 26,
1859, named, commissioned and delegated in the capacity of vice consul of
France at Los Angeles, Sieur Jacques Antoine Moerenhout, honorary consul,
with a view to act in that capacity, under our direction, and conforming to
the dispositions of the laws, ordinances, decisions, and instructions for all
that concerns the interests and the protection of the navigators, merchants
and other French citizens in the above mentioned place. In consequence of
these, we beg and request the competent authorities to recognize and have
recognized the said Sieur Jacques Antoine Moerenhout, honorary consul,
in the above stated capacity of vice consul of France, assuring him the free
exercise of his functions, allowing him to enjoy all the privileges which are
attached thereunto, and giving him, in short, all aid, assistance, and protec-
tion everywhere and in every circumstance in which there may be need.
In faith of which we have signed the present brevet and have hereunto
fixed the official seal of the consulate of France at this residence.
Done at San Francisco, August 17, 1859
For the Consul
Le Chancelier [Seal]^^^ The Consul
Ant. Forest [rubric] Fred. Gautier [rubric]
XXIIP«2
Minister to Moerenhout
Ministere des Affaires Etrangeres ^^^^S' September 13,1877
Direction Politique, No. i
Monsieur:
I have received the reports which you sent me under date of August 1 5
and 16, last, under the seal of Direction Politique, concerning the economic
crisis that the United States has just passed through, and which, in certain
parts of the country of your residence, has taken on a particular character of
gravity. I thank you for these new details, which have been added usefully
to the ensemble of information which I had already had from our various
agents in the United States.
Receive, Monsieur, the assurance of my distinguished consideration.
Addressed: Decarcy [?]i«3 [rubric]
Monsieur Moerenhout, Agent, Vice Consul de France a Los Angeles
1 5 8 California Historical Society Quarterly
Minister to Moerenhout
Ministere des Affaires Etrangeres P^^^^' November 19, 1 877
Direction des Consulats et Affaires Commerciales, No. 5
Your correspondence under the seal of Direction des Consulats et Affaires
Commerciales up to the date of August 12, last, has reached me, Monsieur,
and I thank you for the information which it contains.
I especially appreciate your memoir e, dated July 21, concerning the rail-
roads exploited or projected in California, notably the line which links San
Francisco with Fort Yuma.^^^ This memoir e is a continuation of the one that
you had sent me dated September 10, 1876. They have been sent to Nl. le
Ministre des Travaux Publics , and M. Paris^^^ [has] notified me that he had
taken note with interest of these communications, which included indica-
tions useful to his administration.
Your report dated May 16, on the economic situation of the county of
Los Angeles, furnished varied information which I have sent to Af. le Min-
istre de r Agriculture et du Conmterce.
On the other hand, I can only invite you to continue to keep me informed
of the commercial operations which French vessels, such as the three-masted
Cail, would find advantage in effecting [a effectuer] in the ports of South-
ern California.
Receive, Monsieur, the assurance of my perfect consideration.
Addressed: Duan [?] [rubric]
Monsieur Moerenhout, Agent, Vice Consul de France a Los Angeles
Minister to Moerenhout
Ministere des Affaires Etrangeres ^^^^^^ ^^X ^°' ' ^79
Direction des Consulats et Affaires Commerciales
Monsieur:
Considerations of service and budgetary necessities have determined me to
propose to M. le President de la Republique the suppression of the remunera-
tive vice-consulat of Los Angeles, of which you are the incumbent. I have
the honor of announcing to you that this disposition has been sanctioned
by a decree dated the thirtieth of January, last.
Despite the length of your services, you are not in a position required by
law to obtain a retiring pension; but, desiring to regulate your situation as
favorably as possible, I have decided that you will enjoy a special salary, the
figure of which will be sent to you under the seal of the Division des Fonds
et de la Comptabilite.
At this moment when you cease belonging to active service, I am pleased
Second Incumbency of J. A, Moerenhout 159
to recognize, Monsieur, that you have constantly acquitted your functions
in the most honorable manner during your long career.
Receive, Monsieur, the assurances of my perfect consideration.
Addressed: Waddington>»« [rubric]
Monsieur Moerenhout, Agent, Vice Consul de France a Los Angeles
XXVP««
Waddington to Forest
(C^Py) Paris, December 16, 1879
Ministere des Affaires Etrangeres
Division des Fonds et de la Comptabilite
Monsieur:
I received the letter of November 6th, last, in which you transmit to me,
in support of your recommendation, the request presented by Mme. Philip,
daughter of Mr. Moerenhout, deceased consular agent of France at Los
Angeles the i ith of July of this year.
I regret. Monsieur, that the resources of my department do not permit me
to indemnify this woman, as you solicit in her favor, for the funeral expenses
that she had to sustain. I decided, however, that an incidental aid of five
hundred francs (500 fr.) to be paid at one time should be accorded to her.
I beg you to please send her the said sum, which sum you will enter in your
next account of expenses for the service, you being careful to include with
it the receipt of the payee [partie prenante].
Receive, etc., etc.
Addressed: [signed] Waddington
Monsieur Forest Pour copie conforme
Consul de France a San Francisco The Consul of France
Ant. Forest [rubric]
NOTES
83. Correspondance Politique, Ser. Etats-Unis, Vol. 115, folios 209-14, verso.
84. Vice Consular de France a Monterey, No. 5. Direction Politique.
85. Moerenhout's last despatch is Direction Politique, No. 4 (Document XX in pre-
ceding Quarterly, pp. 73-78) . The quotation here is not the exact wording of the original.
86. On the Law and Order party, see Bancroft, Popular Tribunals, op. cit., II, 141-60.
87. Idem, 501-1 2, for the arrest and trial of Durkee and Rand for piracy.
88. See note 82 above. The final adjournment and sale of property of the Vigilance
Committee of 1856 is described in Bancroft, idem, 526-47. For a discussion of the People's
party, see Hittell, op. cit., Ill, 650 ff.
89. An account of lynch law in the mines in an earlier period is given by the same
author, idem, 272-309. See also, C. H. Shinn, Mining Camps: A Study in American Fron-
tier Government (New York, 1885), pp. 227-31.
90. Hittell, idem, 460 ff,; and, although applying in the main to the earlier period, see
Williams, op. cit., 386-87, 434-37.
1 60 California Historical Society Quarterly
91. But the committee organized the People's party soon after (WiUiams, op. cit.,
403-404).
92. Concerning politics and the election of 1856, see Bancroft, History of California,
op. cit., VI, 697-704; Hittell, op. cit.. Ill, 650 ff., and IV, 172-94; Hurt, note 45 above;
W. J. Davis, History of Political Conventions in California, 1849-92 (Sacramento, 1893),
pp. 50 ff.
93. Allan Nevins, Fremont, Fathmarker of the West (New York, 1939), pp. 439 ff.;
also. Cardinal Goodwin, Johji Charles Fremont (Stanford University, 1930), pp. 197 ff.
94. On the issue of a transcontinental railroad, see Ellison, note 81 above, pp. 136 ff.
95. Hurt, loc. cit.
96. Fillmore did not retire, and Buchanan decisively carried California in the election
in Nov. 1856.
97. On the Civil War and California, see Ellison, op. cit., 178 ff.
98. See Paul S. Taylor, "Foundations of California Rural Society," this Quarterly,
XXIV (Sept. 1945), 194 ff.; also Duniway, note 74 above.
99. Original in Clinton Collection.
100. Cf. Levy, note 49 above, p. 164, 355.
10 1. Seal of the French consulate at San Francisco.
102. Original in Clinton Collection.
103. Decazes, Louis-Charles-Elie, Due de Gliicksberg (1819-1886) was minister of
foreign affairs, 1873- 1877.
104. Original in Clinton Collection.
105. See Lewis B. Lesley, "A Southern Transcontinental Railroad into California:
Texas and Pacific versus Southern Pacific, 1865- 1885," Pacific Historical Review, V
(March 1936), 52-60; and Bancroft, History of California, VII, 61 1-13.
106. Auguste Joseph Paris (1826-1896), minister of public works in the Broglie min-
istry, 1877.
107. Original in Clinton Collection.
108. William Henry Waddington (1826-1894), minister of foreign affairs in the
Dufaure government, Dec. 1877-Feb. 1879.
109. Original in Clinton Collection.
Costs of the Modoc War
By Richard H. Dillon
IT IS NO SURPRISE that the story of the Modoc War has been distorted
and its casualty lists over-estimated, involving as it did a fight against
overwhelming odds in a volcanic slag-heap of twisted lava, cut by
chasms and ridges. To the troops involved it was a nightmare; and even in
the typically restrained and unemotional vocabulary of the official military
report, we can detect some of the awe and respect awakened in the army by
the fighting prowess of the little band of Modoc warriors led by Captain
Jack. Maj. Gen. J. M. Schofield, in his report to the assistant adjutant general,
Col. William D. Whipple, on November 3, 1873, wrote: "The Department
of the Columbia has been the scene of a conflict more remarkable in some
respects than any other before known in American history."^
This campaign, the only major Indian war fought in California, may be
said to have been rivaled only by the Seminole wars of Florida in its drama
of a small band of savages holding back — or rather driving back— the mili-
tary forces, many times larger than their own number, sent against them by
the United States government. There have been varying estimates of the
cost, in lives and in dollars, of the Modoc War stated in books and magazines
from the 1870's to the present. The money cost has been placed as high as a
million dollars by some. Doris Palmer Payne writes:
. . . what a cost! Close to a million dollars in the currency of the day . . . seventeen of
these braves were now dead having succumbed to bullets, shell fire or gallows. Yet for
each of these redskins, the government had sacrificed the lives of at least a dozen men.
During the whole campaign the total number of soldiers, volunteers and civilians killed
by the Modocs ran into the hundreds ... in fact, almost as many were killed in battle
on the American side as in the whole Spanish American War! 2
A figure as high as this can be arrived at by ( i ) estimating the amount of
damage to persons, property, crops, and so forth; (2) adding the cost of
participation by the state of California which came to $4,441.33^; and (3)
carrying the case against the Modocs back to their earliest depredations in
the area.
As to the cost in lives, we have seen that Miss Payne says that "for each
of these 17 redskins, the government had sacrificed the lives of at least a
dozen men"; this would place her figure at 204. The official National Park
Service pamphlet. Lava Beds National Monument, contents itself with say-
ing on page 4 that "a small group of Modoc Indians, under the leadership of
Captain Jack, repeatedly repulsed far superior numbers of United States
soldiers and inflicted grave losses while sustaining practically none them-
selves." Another writer has reported that "during this war, which continued
161
1 62 California Historical Society Quarterly
from November 18, 1872 to June i, 1873, more than 450 white soldiers were
killed, with but few casualties suffered by the red men."*
The number of Modocs engaged in the lava-beds fighting, if we limit the
period to the years 1872-73, is more closely agreed upon. Jeff Riddle, the
son of Wi-ne-ma and Frank Riddle who were the government interpreters
in the Modoc War, places the figure at exactly 52 warrjors."^ Miss Payne has
the total at 53 Modoc combatants,^ the same figure as that of A. B.Meacham.^
The National Park Service pamphlet, quoted above, records on page 3 that
the "small number of Modocs whose force totaled about 175, of which only
about one-third were classed as warriors, prompted a feeling that the hostiles
would be subdued easily."
It is only when we go to documentary sources that we find a clear picture
of the Modoc War, a picture not befogged with romanticism and legend.
Robert Allen, assistant quartermaster-general, wrote from the presidio of
San Francisco, February 16, 1874: "The cost of the Modoc War to the
Quartermaster's Department was $355,000 more than it would have been if
no outbreak had occurred."^ This first estimate of costs was later revised by
M. C. Meigs, quartermaster-general, who on June 26, 1874, sent the follow-
ing communication to the secretary of war:
Sir: I have the honor to transmit herewith detailed statements of the cost to the
Quartermaster's Department of the Modoc War, giving names of persons, &c., paid and
remaining unpaid, as required by request of the House Military Committee of May 9,
1874 (copy herevi^ith returned) amounting in the aggregate to $411,068.18.
The expenditure, as shown by these statements, is $56,000 greater than that reported
by Gen. Robert Allen, February 7, 1874 and which was communicated from this office
to Hon. James W, Nesmith, member of Congress, on that date.
These statements have just come to hand. It was impracticable to obtain them in time
to present to Congress before adjournment.
I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
M. C. Meigs
Quartermaster-General, U.S.A.^
The Indian wars aroused nation-wide concern in the 1870's, and, since the
death toll was reputed to be very high. Congress requested information on
the number of Indians and troops killed during the year 1873. Edward P.
Smith, commissioner of Indian affairs, in answer to a senate resolution of
March 19, 1 874, requesting this information, prepared a circular and summed
up the figures as follows: ^'^
Indians captured by United States troops 227
Indians killed by United States troops 405
Citizens killed by Indians 44
Soldiers killed by Indians 48
Of this number. Commissioner Smith lists the Oregon-California lava-
beds total as 27 Modocs captured, mostly women and children, and 18
Modocs killed, including 7 men, 8 women, and 3 children. When the list of
Costs of the Modoc War 163
citizens and soldiers killed is broken down we find the toll to include: one
general (E. R. S. Canby) ; one peace commissioner; one captain; 5 lieuten-
ants; 4 sergeants; 4 corporals; 3 buglers; 24 privates; one cavalryman, no
rank given; one artilleryman, no rank given; one packer; two members of
the First Oregon Volunteers; three citizens, and two Indian scouts.
It would certainly appear from these figures that the Modocs tried to
make every shot count by concentrating their fire upon the leaders of the
army force and inflicting heavy casualties upon them, in comparison with
the toll they exacted from the much more numerous privates. Fabulous
stories of the marksmanship of the Modoc warriors have been told, and this
casualty list, by rank, would seem to bear out these claims. Jeff Riddle says
that in the first three days of fighting every trooper-casualty was hit either
in the head or the neck.^^
In this same casualty report of Smith's, compiled for 1873, we find the
break-down of units involved in the lava-beds campaign: First Oregon Vol-
unteers, First Cavalry, Twelfth Infantry, Twenty First Infantry, and Fourth
Artillery. All of the 50 men killed in the Modoc actions fell during the
months of April and May 1873, starting with the murder of Gen. E. R. S.
Canby and the peace commissioner. Rev. E. Thomas, on April 11. As to
the number of Modocs involved in the lava-beds war. Gen. A. C. Gillem,
who commanded the troops in the Modoc area, wrote:
Since the termination of the Modoc war I wrote to Dr. McElderry to learn the num-
ber of Modoc warriors engaged during that war, and how many of them were killed, to
which he replied as follows, viz:
Your note of inquiry in regard to the number of Indians killed from the nth April
to the end of the Modoc war, is at hand. The Modocs, themselves, while at this post,
(Fort Klamath,) said that they had lost 5 warriors during that time, viz: 3 killed during
the three day's fight, (2 by explosion of a shell, and i by rifle ball,) i killed at Sorass
Lake, and i at the time of the Thomas massacre. They stated that several old squaws
were killed during the three day's fight. There were forty warriors at this post belonging
to the tribe. This corresponds to the account of Dorris and Fairchild, both of whom,
you remember, always contended that this was the actual number of fighting warriors
belonging to the Modoc tribe.12
It will be seen from certain of the excerpts quoted above that the tempta-
tion to overstate the case for the Modoc War has been yielded to by some
authors. Such overstatement was not necessary, for the terse official com-
muniques themselves manifest the uniqueness of this savage campaign.
NOTES
1. 43d Cong., ist sess., H. Ex. Doc. i, pt. 2 (rep't, sec'y war), p. 52.
2. Doris Palmer Payne, Captain Jack, Modoc Renegade (Portland, Ore., 1938), pp.
255-5^'
3. H. H. Bancroft, History of California (San Francisco, 1884-90), VII, 457.
1 64 California Historical Society Quarterly |
4. Kay Campbell, "Lava Beds National Monument," Pacific Pathways (June, 1947),
p. 7.
5. Jeff C. Riddle, The Indian History of the Modoc War (San Francisco: privately
printed, I9i4),p. 3.
6. Payne, loc. cit.
7. A. B. Meacham, Wi-Ne-Ma (Hartford, 1876), p. 137.
8. 43d Cong., ist sess., H. Ex. Doc. 185, p. 4. (
9. 43d Cong., 2d sess., H. Ex. Doc. 131, p. I.
10. 43d Cong., 2d sess., S. Ex. Doc. 22, p. 2.
11. Riddle, op. cit., p. 9.
12. 44th Cong., S. spec, sess., S. Ex. Doc. i, pp. 17-18.
The Mythical Johnston Conspiracy
By Benjamin F. Gilbert
THE Southerner, Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston, in command of the
U.S. department of the Pacific on the eve of the Civil War, was
charged with traitorous designs against the government while in the
service of the army. Suspicion and distrust pervaded the nation, and it some-
times happened that innocent men were charged by their contemporaries
with treachery. It is the purpose of this article to show why General John-
ston should be freed from such charges. Before relating the circumstances
in the case, a brief account of the man's career is given.
Johnston was born on February 2, 1803, in the village of Washington,
Mason County, Kentucky. Upon reaching young manhood, he wanted to
enter the navy, but, yielding to parental influence, he agreed to attend Tran-
sylvania University in Lexington, Kentucky. In 1822 he received an appoint-
ment to West Point, and graduated four years later, ranking eighth in a class
of forty-one.
His first experience as a soldier in the field was during the Black Hawk
War of 1832. Two years later he resigned from the army, but, when the
Texan revolt began against Mexico, he joined the independence forces, rose
to the rank of adjutant-general of the Texan army, and later became secre-
tary of war of the Republic of Texas. Poor health forced him to resign his
post; however, the outbreak of the Mexican War saw him answer Zachary
Taylor's call for volunteers. At the disbandment of his regiment, he retired
to his plantation in Brazoria County, Texas, but late in 1851 we find him
again in the army, and, as commander of the army of Utah in 1857, ably
handling the Mormon difficulties from his headquarters at Camp Floyd.^
In 1 860, when the sectional and slavery controversy was intense, Johnston
was offered the command of the department of the southwest. This he re-
fused, as he feared the secession of Texas which he considered his adopted
state, and he did not desire to be disloyal to a government having confidence
in him. With the support of Gen. Winfield Scott, he received an assignment
to command the Pacific department. Accordingly, on December 21, i860,
Johnston and his family sailed from New York for San Francisco by way of
the Panama route. He reached San Francisco on January 14, 1861, and took
command of his new post.^ The following April ninth he resigned his com-
mission. His letter to Col. Lorenzo Thomas, adjutant-general, reads as
follows:
I have the honor to tender the resignation of my commission in the Army of the
United States, and to request that it may be submitted to the President for his action;
and I have also respectfully to ask that my successor may be appointed and ordered
to relieve me as soon as practicable.^
165
1 66 Calif or jjia Historical Society Quarterly
RUAIORS OF CONFEDERATE PLOTS
In the early months of 1861, prior to the firing on Fort Sumter, various
rumors were spread of a plot to conquer California from within and to force
the state to secede from the Union.* It was in connection with such a plot in
the San Francisco Bay area that the name of Johnston was maltreated. The
abuses of his name by contemporary political propagandists or alarmists are
perhaps excusable, as the slander was made during a period of war fervor,
but the later acceptance of the myth of a Johnston conspiracy cannot be
justified.
As the story is usually told, the secessionist leaders had placed Johnston in
command of the department of the Pacific so that he could carry California
out of the Union by a series of moves, which contemplated the capture of
Fort Alcatraz, the conversion of the military forces in California into a
secessionist army, and the organization of a Pacific republic. This independ-
ent nation, if not actually supporting the South, was at least to be a benevo-
lent neutral in its relations with the Confederate States.
William Preston Johnston, in a biography of his father, would seem to
have proved his innocence from the charges of disloyalty and treason by
presenting an array of evidence. He stated that his father was told by a group
of Republicans in San Francisco of a plot to form a Pacific republic. General
Johnston replied that he hoped it was untrue, but he quietly undertook pre-
cautionary measures to frustrate any attempt at an insurrection. Several
thousand arms were removed from the exposed arsenal at Benicia and were
placed in the impregnable Fort Alcatraz. Johnston also informed Gov. John
G. Downey of the possibility of an insurrection, and told him that arms
would be at the disposal of the state militia.^
In 1894, the McClatchy brothers, owners of the Sacramento Bee, wrote
and published a souvenir history of the city of Sacramento, in which it was
said that, at the bedside of Edmund Randolph, James McClatchy, editor of
the Bee, had learned that Johnston intended to turn military stores over to
the rebels. The Pony Express was scheduled to leave that night, and, accord-
ing to the souvenir history, McClatchy immediately dispatched a letter to
Edward D. Baker, U.S. senator from Oregon. He informed Baker of the
conspiracy, and demanded the removal of Johnston. On receipt of the letter.
Baker visited President Lincoln who called a cabinet meeting. General Sum-
ner was "then and there" ordered to take command of the department of the
Pacific and "to dispossess Johnston." The McClatchy account went on to
say that General Sumner hastened to California and demanded that Johnston
relinquish his command; Johnston requested a delay, which Sumner re-
fused; the Civil War broke out shortly afterwards, whereupon Johnston left
to join the Confederate army, California, according to the Bee^s owners,
being thus saved for the Union.^
Mythical Johnston Conspiracy 1 6j
THE ASBURY HARPENDING CONSPIRACY
In writing his father's biography, William Preston Johnston doubted the
reality of secessionist plots in California. However, Asbury Harpending, in-
stigator of a Confederate privateering venture in 1863, has revealed in his
reminiscences that he himself was a member of a secret society of Southern
sympathizers which planned to force California to secede. All members, with
a "General" at the head, were under oath, and absolute secrecy pervaded the
society. Meetings were called by word of mouth, all transactions being
burned. Each member organized a contingent of a hundred men disguised
as ordinary workmen. Their plans included the capture of Fort Point, Fort
Alcatraz, the navy yard at Mare Island, the arsenal at Benicia, and the militia
arsenals at San Francisco. After capturing a supply of military equipment,
an army of Southerners was to organize a Pacific republic as a preliminary
step in aiding the Confederacy.'^
A committee of three from this secessionist society called on General
Johnston in the hope of receiving some information which might aid them
in executing their plans. However, before the meeting had hardly begun,
Johnston, as quoted by Harpending in his reminiscences, said:
There is something I want to mention. I have heard foolish talk about an attempt to
seize the strongholds of the government under my charge. Knowing this, I have pre-
pared for emergencies, and will defend the property of the United States with every
resource at my command, and with the last drop of blood in my body. Tell that to
all our Southern friends.^
This frank statement surprised the secessionists, and they sat through the
remainder of the meeting like "a lot of petrified stoten-bottles." Johnston
started a general conversation, and, after an hour, the disheartened men left.
The loyalty of Johnston to the United States was something the group had
not counted on, and the secret society was abandoned.
Although a secession plot did exist during the time of Johnston's com-
mand in the Pacific department, the McClatchy story of the former's
involvement has no supporting evidence. Randolph, the informer in the
account, was very outspoken. He was a lawyer of San Francisco, was de-
scended from the Randolphs of Virginia, and with the approach of the
national crisis had become a rabid secessionist. As a member of Harpending's
secret society he had, with neither the knowledge nor sanction of the other
members, approached General Johnston with some questionable proposi-
tion. Whether the proposal was a request for aid to the secret society or not,
is not known, but whatever it was, Johnston's answer made Randolph in-
furiated. He now engaged in loose talk, and told the secret society that their
cause was lost. Harpending's reminiscences show that Randolph was actually
demented, and in that condition he had written a letter to President Lincoln
telling him of a conspiracy and questioning the loyalty of Johnston.
Whether Randolph told McClatchy or wrote a letter to Lincoln are matters
1 68 California Historical Society Quarterly
for speculation, but the origin of the myth of a Johnston conspiracy can
perhaps be attributed to Randolph's talkativeness and to his indignation
toward Johnston. After the outbreak of the Civil War, Randolph became
a propagandist and delivered pro-Confederate speeches of an inflammatory
character.^ Within a year, on September 8, 1861, he died at the young age of
forty-two, a complete mental and physical wreck.^°
In the biography of his friend. Col. Edward D. Baker, Elijah Kennedy
supported the story of a Johnston conspiracy. He claimed that immediately
after Lincoln's victory in the presidential election of 1 860, Sen. William M.
Gwin of California left for Washington, D.C. Buchanan was still President,
and the secessionists had no time to lose. Gwin impressed the secretary of
war, John B. Floyd, with the need for removing officers loyal to the United
States. Thus Kennedy implied that Johnston was put in command of the
department of the Pacific to win California for secession; but Baker's hasty
demand for the removal of Johnston and Lincoln's trust in Baker, had,
according to this story, saved the Pacific coast for the Union.^^
JOHNSTON'S REMOVAL
In his reminiscences. Gen. Erasmus D. Keyes describes a meeting held on
March 22, 1861, in the war department between himself. Gen. Winfield
Scott, and Secretary of State William H. Seward. In a strictly confidential
remark. Secretary Seward stated that he had received information from
Sen. James W. Nesmith of Oregon to the effect that General Johnston was
not faithful to the Union. Keyes's opinion of Johnston was asked, and he
said, "I had known and respected him as an honorable gentleman, believed
him to be a Democrat, but could not say whether he was a Secessionist or
not."^^ Upon the suggestion of Seward, it was decided that Keyes should be
sent to investigate affairs on the Pacific coast; but General Scott, fearful that
Keyes would remove Johnston on the slightest grounds in order to advance
his friend. Col. George Wright, to the command, refused to permit the in-
vestigation. The following morning General Scott requested Gen. Edwin V.
Sumner to leave for San Francisco without delay to assume command.
According to Keyes, the order was approved by the cabinet in a secret ses-
sion.^^ It is dated Washington, D.C, March 23, 1861, and reads as follows:
Brigadier-General Sumner will, without delay, repair to San Francisco and relieve
Brevet-Brigadier-General Johnston in command of the Department of the Pacific,
whereupon the latter will return to Washington to receive further orders.^*
It is true that Johnston believed in states' rights, but he remained faithful
to the Union until he returned to the South. When Texas seceded, Johnston
sent a letter (dated April 9, 1861, as mentioned above) to the war depart-
ment giving notice of the resignation of his commission. He concealed his
resignation until the arrival of Sumner, so as not to weaken the morale of
his troops nor encourage a revolt of Southerners in California.^^ The Mc-
Mythical Johnston Conspiracy 1 69
Clatchy story failed to mention Johnston's resignation; and the statement
that Sumner's arrival was a shock to Johnston is without foundation.
Another error in the McClatchy story is the statement that Sumner de-
manded the release of Johnston immediately upon his arrival in San Fran-
cisco. Johnston's son and biographer quoted a contemporary newspaper on
the incident:
The eager thousands who thronged the streets hardly noticed the momentary pause
of the steamer when passing Fort Alcatraz, nor did they note the little boat that shot
out from her side toward the island; yet that tiny boat bore General Sumner, who, in
a few minutes, stood before the commander, and, as his superior in rank, and under
special orders from the President, assumed command of Fort Alcatraz [;] California
was saved to the Union.^^
This is the type of fabrication indulged in by some Northern newspapers.
The truth is that Sumner disembarked with the other passengers at the
harbor, and did not visit Johnston until the next day at noon. Then the com-
mand was turned over to Sumner. He expressed gratitude over his predeces-
sor's command, and asked his advice. An extract from General Sumner's
report of April 28, 1 861, to the assistant adjutant-general, reveals the truth
of Johnston's release:
I have the honor to report that I arrived here on the 24th instant, and on the 25th
relieved General Johnston in command of this department. My departure from New
York was not known here till the night before my arrival. It gives me pleasure to state
that the command was turned over to me in good order. General Johnston had for-
warded his resignation before I arrived, but he continued to hold the command, and
was carrying out the orders of the Govemment.i'^
An article^^ published as late as 1940 quoted from a biographical sketch of
Col. Orlando H. Moore which asserted that Moore, then a lieutenant, was
selected by the government as the leader of a secret mission to investigate
General Johnston. The biographer portrayed her father as the person who
uncovered a plot to seize the Benicia barracks, the Mare Island navy yard.
Fort Point, and Fort Alcatraz, and that he revealed it to officials in Wash-
ington; that General Sumner arrived at Benicia just in time to save Cali-
fornia, Oregon, and Nevada for the Union, and that he relieved Johnston
of his command within an hour of his arrival.^^ The facts would indicate that
there were few officials in California who sympathized with secession, and
that there was no secret society plotting in cooperation with General John-
ston. Furthermore, Sumner did not arrive in Benicia, but at San Francisco.
In his reminiscences, Caspar T. Hopkins likewise alluded to a conspiracy,
but gave another version of the story.^^ He claimed that Johnston had not
been informed of his replacement, that he felt his honor had been abused,
and thus had resigned his commission. It might be remarked here that John-
ston certainly was not surprised by his replacement, which he virtually re-
quested by his much earlier resignation.
One other account should be presented to portray the extent to which
1 70 California Historical Society Quarterly
fiction had been employed in connection with the Johnston episode. George
Henry Pettis, who had been a first lieutenant with the First California In-
fantry during the Civil War, read a paper in Providence, Rhode Island, at
a meeting of a local historical society in 1885 in which he stated that mali-
cious traitors officered the regular army in Calrfornia and on the warship
U.S.S. Wyoming, lying in San Francisco harbor. He related that Sumner
upon arriving in San Francisco rushed to the army headquarters on Wash-
ington Street and saved California from a fate worse than "all those long
four years of the war" by demanding: " 'Is this Gen. Johnston.' " " 'Yes,
sir.' " " 'I am General E. V. Sumner, United States Army, and do now relieve
you of the command of this department. . . .' "^^
JOHNSTON'S DEPARTURE
Sumner's order to relieve Johnston also ordered the latter to report to
Washington. Johnston was told by letter that he had the confidence of the
secretary of war, and would receive an important command upon his arrival
in Washington. Upon hearing of Johnston's resignation, Sumner urged its
recall and told Johnston of General Scott's desire for his presence in active
service.^^
However, Johnston decided to enter the service of the Confederate army.
He received notice of the acceptance of his resignation from the U.S. army
on May 3, 1861. An order for his arrest, provided he started overland from
California, was issued by General Scott on June 3, 1861.^^ Johnston stayed
in Los Angeles from May 2 to June 1 6, and then departed for Texas. With
a group of about thirty sympathizers, Johnston, facing capture by U.S.
soldiers, ran the gauntlet across the desert. He journeyed by way of War-
ner's Ranch, crossing the Colorado River at Yuma on July i. He reached
Arizona at the time of its conquest by Confederate forces under Col. John
R. Baylor. Johnston reached San Antonio, Texas, and from there hurried to
Richmond.
JOHNSTON'S INNOCENCE
The contemporary source material in itself is evidence that General John-
ston was innocent of the charges of treason and disloyalty. The fact that the
two staunch Unionist newspapers of San Francisco were not alarmed at
Johnston's release reveals the fallaciousness of the rumors. On the day of
Sumner's assuming command and of the arrival of news in San Francisco of
the attack on Fort Sumter, the Daily Alta California in an article entitled,
"The New Appointed Commander of the Pacific Division," stated: "It is
likely that Gen. Johnston will be entrusted with command of the Oregon
Department, or be transferred to the command of his regiment, which is, we
beheve, serving in Arkansas."^*
The Daily Evening Bulletin, in an article on General Sumner's arrival,
ridiculed the rumors of a plot and condemned the unwarranted excitement
My thical Johnston Conspiracy 1 7 1
of "life-long peace men" over the rumors. It stated: "No wonder they think
the telegraph lies, when truth gets so horribly distorted traveling on foot
half a dozen blocks on Montgomery Street." It concluded that General
Sumner took command "without any unnecessary perspiration or extrava-
gant haste. . . ."^^
Records left by military men serving both on the Pacific coast and in
Washington, D.C., give clear evidence of the loyalty and honesty of Gen-
eral Johnston to the U.S. government.^*^ In a statement written in response
to an inquiry by the editor of the Century magazine in 1 885, Fitz John Porter
related that while he was stationed in the adjutant-general's office in Wash-
ington he was authorized to send Johnston a message assuring him of the
war department's confidence and his receipt of an important command upon
his arrival in Washington. However, the message reached Johnston after
Sumner's arrival, and Johnston replied that he preferred "to follow the
fortunes" of his adopted state of Texas. Porter firmly believed in the man's
integrity and completed his statement as follows:
I felt in 1 86 1, as I now know, that the assertion that General Johnston intended to
turn over to the secessionists the defenses of California, or any part of the regular
army, was false and absurd. Under no circumstances, even if intended, could such a
plan have succeeded, especially with the regular army. But no such breach of trust was
intended, nor would any graduate of West Point in the army have committed or
permitted it. It had not better foundation than the statement of Senator [John]
Conness of California, who three years later urged and secured the assignment of
General [Irwin] McDowell to command on the Pacific Coast, on the ground that after
the war for the Union should have ended there would be in California a more powerful
rebellion than that then existing among the Southern States. ^^
Johnston was but one victim of an emotional society. On the eve of the
conflict, California experienced much hysteria. However, only seven per
cent of the population, according to the 1 860 census, had migrated from the
South, and when war came, the vast majority supported the Union.^^
DEATH OF JOHNSTON
Johnston was killed in action on April 6, 1862, while commanding the
Confederate forces in the fierce battle of Shiloh. A minie-ball struck him in
the calf of the leg.^^ Gen. Ulysses S. Grant stated that Johnston, instead of
caring for the wound, remained in the saddle commanding his men until he
died from loss of blood. The opinion of Johnston, expressed by the victori-
ous soldier who accepted Lee's sword of surrender at Appomattox, seems
appropriate:
I had known Johnston slightly in the Mexican war, and later as an officer in the
regular army. He was a man of high character and ability. His contemporaries at West
Point, and officers generally who came to know him personally later, and who remained
on our side, expected him to prove the most formidable man to meet, that the Confed-
eracy would produce ^o
1 7 2 California Historical Society Quarterly
NOTES
1. William Preston Johnston, The Life of General Albert Sidney Johnston (New
York, 1878), passim. The author wrote his father's biography from family papers and
other sources. He was the eldest son, who became famous as president of Louisiana
State University and then of Tulane University. Chapter VII of Arthur Marvin Shaw's
William Preston Johnston, A Transitional Figure of the Confederacy (Baton Rouge,
1943), describes the writing of the biography. See also Shaw, ed., "Albert Sidney
Johnston in Texas, Letters to Relatives in Kentucky, 1847- 1860," Register of the Ken-
tucky State Historical Society, XL (July 1942), 290-317. For a brief biographical
sketch, see Chris Emmett, The General and the Poet, Albert Sidney Johnston and
Sidiiey Lanier (San Antonio, 1937), pp. 5-21. For Johnston's action in Utah, see Hubert
Howe Bancroft, History of Utah, i $40-1886 (San Francisco, 1889), pp. 512-42.
2. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union
and Confederate Armies (70 v., Washington, D. C, 1880-1901), Ser. I, Vol. L, Pt. I,
P-433-
3. Ibid., pp. 463-64.
4. Hubert Howe Bancroft, History of California (San Francisco, 1884-1890), VII,
279.
5. Johnston, op. cit., p. 262.
6. Sacrantento City and Its Resources: A Souvenir of the Bee (Sacramento, 1895),
p. 156.
7. James H. Wilkins, ed.. The Great Diam.ond Hoax and Other Stirring Incidents in
the Life of Asbury Harpending (San Francisco, 191 3), p. 29.
8. Ibid., p. 36.
9. Ibid., pp. 29-40; Winfield J. Davis, History of Political Conventions in California,
1849-18(12 (Sacramento, 1893), p. 173.
10. William Rhodes, "Edmund Randolph," in Oscar Shuck, ed.. Representative and
Leading Men of the Pacific (San Francisco, 1870), p. 591.
11. Elijah R. Kennedy, The Contest for California in 1861: How Colonel E. D. Baker
Saved The Pacific Coast To The Union (Boston, 191 2), pp. 79-80, 206. See also, James
A. B. Scherer, Thirty-first Star (New York, 1942), pp. 257-59. For an account of
Baker's military career and death, see John D. Baltz, Colonel E. D. Bakefs Defense
in the Battle of BalVs Bluff, fought October 21st 1861, in Virginia (Lancaster, Pa.,
1888). See also Milton H. Shutes, "Colonel E. D. Baker," this Quarterly, XVII (Dec.
1938), 303-24.
12. Erasmus D. Keyes, Fifty Years* Observations of Men and Events (New York,
1884), p. 420.
13. Ibid., pp. 420-21.
14. The War of the Rebellion: . . . Annies, Ser. I, Vol. L, Pt. I, p. 456.
15. Johnston, op. cit., pp. 248-61.
16. Ibid., p. 262.
17. Richard H. Orton, ed., Records of California Men in the War of the Rebellion,
1861-186'] (Sacramento, 1890), p. 6.
18. Peter T. Conmy, "The Pacific Repubhc," The Grizzly Bear, LXVI (Jan. 1940), 3.
19. J. M. Loveridge, an article to the editor, Michigan History Magazine, XV (Spring
No., 193 1), 376-80; The Original Military Records written by Colonel Orlando Hurley
Moore, Transcript, pp. 2-4.
20. "The California Recollections of Caspar T. Hopkins," this Quarterly, XXVI
(Sept. 1947), 260-61.
Mythical Johnston Conspiracy 1 7 3
21. George Henry Pettis, Frontier Service During the Rebellion; Or, A History of
Company K, First Infantry, California Volunteers (Providence, 1885), pp. 6-7.
22. Orton, op. cit., p. 7.
23. The War of the Rebellion: .. .Armies, Ser. I, Vol. L, Pt. I, p. 496; Johnston,
op. cit., pp. 275, 290-92.
24. Daily Alta California, April 15, 186 1.
25. Daily Evening Bulletin, April 25, 1861.
26. Johnston, op. cit., pp. 263-67; Dewitt C. Thompson, California in the Rebellion
(San Francisco, 1891), p. 9.
27. Fitz John Porter, "The Offer of Union Command to General A. S. Johnston,"
The Century Illustrated Monthly Magazine, XXIX (Feb. 1885), 634-35.
28. Benj. F. Gilbert, "The Confederate Minority in California," this Quarterly,
XX (June 1941), 154-70.
29. Memoirs of General Williajn T. Sherman by Himself (New York, 1875), I, 247.
30. Ulysses S. Grant, "The Battle of Shiloh," The Century . . ., XXIX (Feb. 1885), 608.
Recent Californiana
A Check List of Publications Relating to California
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Virginia and Truckee, a Story of Virginia City and Comstock Times. Oakland,
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Three Generations, 1837- 1949, Jules Francois Bekeart, a Gunsmith; Philip Baldwin
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BrUFF, J, GOLDSBOROUGH
Gold Rush: The Journals, Drawings, and Other Papers . . . Edited by Georgia
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Constitution of the State of California, 1849. With an introduction by Robert Glass
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The Famous Fremonts and Their America. Orange, Calif., Fine Arts Press, 1949.
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Oh Glittering Promise! A Novel of the California Gold Rush. Indianapolis, Bobbs-
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Happier for His Presence, San Francisco and Robert Louis Stevenson. Stanford,
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Gold Rush Album. New York, C. Scribner's Sons, 1949. 239 p. illus. $10.00.
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True Bear Stories. With an introduction by David Starr Jordan. Portland, Binfords
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Mammals of Lake Tahoe. San Francisco, California Academy of Sciences, 1949.
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Improvement of Communication With the Pacific Coast as an Issue in American
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With An Introduction by David Starr Jordan. Portland, Binfords & Mort, ci949.
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From MRS. E. A. BULLIS— Muir, John, Picturesque California. San Francisco, J.
Dewing, 1894.
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From MR. GEORGE T. CAMERON-Caen, Herb and Max Yavno, The San Frcm-
cisco Book, Cambridge, Houghton Mifflin, 1948; De Roos, Robert, The Thirsty Land,
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20, 18$ I. Edited by Georgia Willis Read and Ruth Gaines, with a foreword by F. W.
Hodge. California Centennial Edition. New York, Columbia University Press, 1949.
From MR. R. H. CROSS— Meehan, Francis, Triunfo, Lake Sherwood, Casa Delia Ma-
donna, 1948; Bar Association of San Francisco, Annual Report 1948.
From MR. E. I. EDWARDS— Dej^n Treasure, a Bibliography, December i, 1948.
Los Angeles, Edwards & Williams, 1948.
From THE EXPOSITION PRESS-Hisken, Clara Hough, Tehcmia, Little City of the
Big Trees. New York, The Exposition Press, 1948; Hunt, Rockwell D., California Vi-
gnettes, New York, The Exposition Press, 1948.
From MR. FRANCIS GUIDO-McKeon, Owen F., The Railroads and Steamers of
Lake Tahoe. San Mateo, The Western Railroader, [n.d.].
From MR. GRAHAME H. HARDY-Beebe, Lucius and Charles Clegg, Virginia &
Truckee, a Story of Virginia City and Comstock Times. Oakland, Grahame H.
Hardy, 1949.
From MR. RANDOLPH A. HEARST-Hearst, William Randolph, Selections from
the Writings and Speeches of William Randolph Hearst. San Francisco, Published
Privately, 1948.
From MR. ROCKWELL D. HUNT— His: Some California Pioneers I Have Known.
Reprinted from the Quarterly of the Historical Society of Southern California for
December 1948.
From MISS FLORENCE R. KEENE-Angerman, Wm. G., Out of a Childhood,
Los Angeles [Plantin Press] 1948; BiUings, Lydia Rader, Reme?nbering [Hollywood,
Holly crofters, C1946]; Greathead, S. Estelle, Stepping Stones to America's Greatness.
Philadelphia, Dorrance, C1945; Hall, Kay DeBard, Poems of the Sea, New York, Hast-
ings House, CI 948; Harris, Elizabeth Howe, Long Dawn, San Leandro, The Greater
West Pub. Co., C1946; [Kelly, Sara Hammond] Fair Warning, [n.p., n.d.]; McCurtain,
Lucile v., The After Irnage, New York, William Frederick Press, C1946; Maye, May
Benedict, Blue Sky, Santa Barbara, News-Press Print., C1935; Miles, Josephine, Poems on
Several Occasions, Norfolk, Conn., New Directions, C1941; Pendleton, Barbara Eye,
Windows of Agates, Mill Valley, Wings Press, 1943; Pray, Ada Jordan, Songs of Nature,
Youth, and Love, [Chico, Vaughans Home Press, C1933] ; Ross, Jessie H., Happy Hours,
Berkeley, Gillick Press, 1945; Wilson, Nell Griffith, The Heart Remembers, Dallas,
Kaleidograph Press, C1948; Dominican Convent of San Rafael, California, From Now
On, [n.p., 1948]; California Club, comp.. War Poems, 1898, San Francisco, Murdock
Press, C1898.
From A. A. KNOPF, INC.— Lewis, Oscar, Sea Routes to the Gold Fields, the Migra-
tion by Water to California in 1849-18^2. New York, A. A. Knopf, 1949.
From A. T. LEONARD, JR., M.D.-Brink, Carol, Harps in the Wind, the Story of the
Singing Hut chins ons. New York, Macmillan, 1947.
From MR. IRA S. LILLICK-Asbury, Herbert, The Barbary Coast, an Informal His-
tory of The San Francisco Underworld. New York, A. A. Knopf, 1933.
From MISS HELEN NIVENS-Her: Testimony of Time. Mill Valley, Calif., Wings
Press, 1947.
News of the Society 177
From MR. WARREN H. OTT— Amador County History. [Jackson] Amador
County Federation of Women's Clubs, 1927.
From MRS. JEHANNE BIETRY SALINGER-Her: Notre Centenaire, le Guide
Franco Calif ornien du Centenaire. [San Francisco, Pisani Printing & Publishing Co.,
1949].
From MRS. M. W. SAMELSON— Wynn, Marcia Rittenhouse, Pioneer Family of
Whiskey Flat. [Los Angeles, Haynes Corporation, 1945]; and her: Desert Bonanza,
Culver City, Calif., M. W. Samelson, 1949.
From MRS. MARGARET SCHLICHTMANN and HON. A. T. SHINE-L^-
guage and Poetry of Flowers, "Alice Phelan from F. Murrow, Christmas, 1883," New
York, Hurst, [n.d.]; Manual del Catolico Americano, Baltimore, J. Murphy, 1850;
Compendio del Catecismo de Perseverancia, Paris, Libreria de Gaume Hermanos, 1853;
Velazquez de la Cadena, Mariano, A Pronouncing Dictionary of the Spanish and English
Languages, New York, D. Appleton, 1852; Anthon, Charles, A Latin-English and
English-Latin Dictionary, New York, Harper, 1857; Diccionario de la Lengua Castellana,
Paris, B. Corman y Blanc, 1826; Spiers, A,, The Standard Pronouncing Dictionary of the
French and English Languages, New York, D. Appleton, 1857.
From CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS-Jackson, Joseph Henry, ed., Gold Rush
AlbuTn. New York, C. Scribner's Sons, 1949.
From MR. W. C. SHARPSTEEN— San Francisco Directories, 1904-1944. 41 vols.
From HON. M. C. SLOSS— 5^72 Francisco Block Book, 3d ed. January, 1906, San
Francisco, Hicks-Judd [1906]; Mery's Block Book of San Francisco, San Francisco,
Cahfornia Block Book and Map Co., C1909.
From STANFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS-Issler, Anne Roller, Happier for His
Presence, San Francisco and Robert Louis Stevenson, Stanford, Stanford University
Press, CI 949; Mackey, Margaret Gilbert and Louise Pinkney Sooy, Early California
Costumes 1^69-1847, and Historic Flags of California, Stanford, Stanford University
Press, 1932; and 2nd edition of the same, Stanford, C1949; Settle, Raymond W. and Mary
Lund Settle, Empire on WJoeels, Stanford, Stanford University Press, 1949.
From MR. JOSEPH A. SULLIVAN-Giffen, Guy J., comp. The Barry and Patten
Index. Oakland, Biobooks, 1949.
From MR. HENRY R. WAGNER-Brackett, Frank P., Granite and Sagebrush,
Reminiscences of the First Fifty Years of Pomona College, Los Angeles, Ward Ritchie
Press, C1944; Constitution of the State of California 1849, with an Introduction by Rob-
ert Glass Cleland, San Marino, Friends of the Huntington Library, 1949; Don Santiago
Kirker, reprinted from the Santa Fe Republican, November 20, 1947, Los Angeles,
Privately Printed, 1948; Heartman, Charles F., Americana, Printed and in Manuscript,
Biloxi, Miss., C. F. Heartman, n.d.; Johnston, Philip, Lost and Living Cities of the Cali-
fornia Gold Rush, [Los Angeles] Automobile Club of Southern California [1948];
Lyon, E. Wilson, The New California; an address ... at the Opening Convocation of
Pomona College, September 25, 1947 [n.p., n.d.]; MacNutt, Francis Augustus, De Orbe
Novo, The Eight Decades of Peter Martyr D^Anghera, New York, G. P. Putnam's Sons,
191 2; Paul, Rodman W., California Gold, The Beginning of Mining in the Far West,
Cambridge, Harvard University Press, 1947; Meek, Stephen Hall, The Autobiography
of a Mountain Man, 180^-1889, Introduction and notes by Arthur Woodward, Pasadena,
Glen Dawson, 1948; Pilot CoTnmander Don Jose Maria Narvaez 1791, 150th Anniversary
1791-1941, Vancouver, City Archives, 1941; Schad, Robert O., Henry Edwards Hunt-
ington, The Founder and the Library, San Marino, Henry E. Huntington Library & Art
Gallery, 1948; Waters, Willard O., California in Maps, 1^41-18^1, Notes on an exhibi-
tion, San A'larino, The Huntington Library, 1949; Wills, Mrs. E. M., Ode Sung at San
Francisco October 29, 18 $0, at the Celebration on Hearing of the Admission of California
1 7 8 Calif or?iia Historical Society Quarterly
into the Union as a State, [Los Angeles] Press of Muir Dawson, 1947; Wroth, Lawrence
C, Some American Contributions to the Art of Navigation 1^19-1802, Providence, The
Associates of the John Carter Brown Library, 1947; W. P. A., Calendar of the Montana
Papers in the Williajn Andrews Clark Memorial Library, Los Angeles, Southern Cali-
fornia Historical Records Survey Project, 1942; "Additions to the Manuscript Atlases of
Battista Agnese," reprinted from Imago Munde, IV; Henry E. Huntington Library and
Art Gallery, Twentieth Annual Report, 1946- 1947; Pomona College Fifty -Fifth Com-
mencement, Claremont, June, 1948; Southwest Museum, Annual Report of the Director
and of the Secretary and Treasurer for 1948, Los Angeles, 1949.
MAGAZINES AND NEWSPAPERS
From MR. THOMAS P. BROWN-T^e Time Card, v. 8, no. i, March 15, 1949,
containing his: "San Francisco's Century-Old Street Names— The 'Happy Valley Days'
of '49."
From MRS. E. A. BULLIS— Collection of San Francisco and national newspapers of
the period of Lincoln's death and a facsimile of the Ulster Gazette.
From MR. EDWARD KNEASS-Scoop, Press Club of San Francisco 60th Year, 1948.
From LOS ANGELES BAR ASSOCIATION-T/a^ Bar Association Bulletin, v. 3, no.
13, March i, 1928. Contains historical data and the constitution and by-laws.
From MR. ROBERT W. VNKYJNSO^ -Steamboat Bill of Facts, a publication relat-
ing to American steam vessels and other power-driven craft, past and present, V. 5, 1948,
and continuation. Barrington, R. I., Steamship Historical Society of America.
From COL. R. S. SMILIE— Historical Society of Southern California, Ajujual Publi-
cation, v. 4, pt. I, 3; V. 5, pt. i; v. 7, pt. 2, 3, 1888-1901.
From SOCIETY OF CALIFORNIA PIONEERS-Publication for the Year 1948, [San
Francisco, The Society, 1949.]
MANUSCRIPTS
From MR. JOHN C. CATLIN— Appointment and commission of J. Routier as Fish
Commissioner, signed by Washington Bartlett, March 12, 1887.
From MR. JOEL E. FERRIS— Photostats of nine letters and eight documents concern-
ing Hiram Gano Ferris, early settler in Siskiyou County.
From MR. J. W. MAILLIARD, JR.— Two manuscript pages from the cash book of
Mailliard Estate Inc. dated April 18, 1906.
From MRS. MARGARET SCHLICHTMANN and HON. A. T. SHINE-Day book
of the San Leandro Meat Market Oct. 1875-Mar. 1877, David Ury, Proprietor; Account
book of Austin Mecartea, blacksmith Big Oak Flat 1 886-1 890; Another Mecartea Ac-
count book dating from 1867; Blank draft book of the Experance Gold, Silver, & Copper
Mining Co., Big Oak Flat.
From HON. A. T. SHINE— Adams, Samuel, A Journal of a Voyage to California in
the Barque Mazeppa, manuscript dated New York January 27, 1849-March 18, 1850.
Two volumes; Typewritten and pencil transcription of the diary; Pencil sketch of the
Mazeppa drawn by George E, Young laid in volume two; Twenty-four manuscript
letters, receipts, agreements relating to the Adams family together with a collection of
newspaper clippings and three photographs.
From MR. RAY SLANKER— Two day books from general store in Amador City,
1879 and 1895.
From MRS. HELEN MAR YE THOMAS-Three photostats of manuscript docu-
ments relating to the presentation of the Order of St. Alexander Nevsky to George
T. Marye.
From MR. EDWIN VAN AMRINGE-The Mother Lode of California-Description
and History, a selection of material, principally from his collection. Typewritten.
News of the Society 179
PICTURES AND MAPS
From MR. HARRY J. BREEN— A framed photograph of Col. Jonathan D. Stevenson.
From MR. A. S. CLARK— Eleven early photographs of San Francisco: S. F. Ferry-
Landing 1889, Veranda Saloon 1856, Old Cliff House 1865, Baldwin Hotel 1874, Cali-
fornia Theatre 1865, Fort Vigilance 1856, Down Market Street in 1865, View from Cliif
House 1865, Clay and Kearny Streets, Market Street in 1865, and California Street R. R.
From MISS CHRISTINE DONOHOE-Photographic copy of portrait and letter
of Dr. William Maxwell Wood.
From MR. JOEL E. FERRIS— A photograph of Hiram Gano Ferris from a daguerreo-
type taken in Yreka about 1852.
From MR. REX HARDY, JR.-Holt's Map of California and Nevada, 1869.
From MRS. JOHN GRIFFIN JOHNSTON-Life size portrait in oil of John Strother
Griffin, M.D., painter unknown.
From A, T. LEONARD, JR., M.D.— A map of Hillsborough Park and vicinity show-
ing principal roads and other points of interest in the year 1930.
From MR. ARNOLD M. LLOYD-A copy of a painting by Horace Vernet painted
in oil by Dr. V. J. Fourgeaud.
From MR. GEORGE MATHIS and MR. H. P. DAVIS-Eight handcolored litho-
graphs by George Mathis: Nevada City Firehouse #2, Dutch Flat Hotel, Silt Wheels at
Jackson, Sierra City, Columbia, Nevada City's "Red Castle," Ghost Town of Amador
City, North San Juan Street Scene.
From MRS. MARGARET SCHLICHTMANN and HON. A. T. SHINE-U. S.
Geological Survey, Geologic Atlas of the United States, Jackson Folio, Truckee Folio,
and Sacramento FoHo; Two manuscript maps of San Francisco water lots and one profile
diagram of San Francisco Streets, [n.d.] formerly owned by William Heath Davis;
Seventeen U. S. Geological Survey Topographic Sheets; Map of Panama [n.d., Spanish
period]; Photographs: Death Valley Scotty; Carmel Mission, interior view before
restoration; Four views of the Estudillo Home before it was torn down in 1948; Twelve
portraits; Three pictures at Big Oak Flat; Four pictures of San Leandro; Three pictures
at Yosemite Valley; Two framed photographic portraits of Manuel da Rosa Serpa and
Maria Felicia da Rosa Serpa.
From HON. M. C. SLOSS— Photographs: Louis Sloss, Lewis Gerstle, Martin L. Wash-
burn, Hayward M. Hutchinson, Capt. G. Niebaum, Two views of the Alaska Commer-
cial Co., First sailing for the Klondike, Steamer Excelsior, July 28, 1897.
From MR. VICTOR SPARKS— Four photographs of paintings hsted in his catalog:
View of the California Coast (probably Pt. Lobos) painted by Albert Bierstadt, Review
of the Grand Army of the Republic by James Walker, Battle of Buena Vista by James
Walker, View of Stockton before 1858, by A. D. O. Browere.
From MR. LEROY WAHMUTH-Colored lithograph by Geo. H. Burgess, "San
Francisco in July 1849 from Present Site of S, F. Stock Exchange."
MISCELLANEOUS
From A/IRS. SPENCER C. BROWNE-Plaster bust of J. Ross Browne.
From MR. COLLIER H. BUFFINGTON-Rogue's Gallery of Chinese criminals
collected by Delos Woodruff, special officer San Francisco Police Department, 1874;
Stock certificate of Claremont Mining Company issued Feb. 20, 1864.
From MISS CHARLOTTE CLIFT-Marriage certificate of Mr. Osro Clift and Mrs.
Margaret Harper of Mendocino County, February 13, 1865.
From MR. VALLEJO GANTNER-Scrapbook containing Sara Althea by Evelyn
Wells published in the Call Bulletin, 1933.
From MRS. VICTOR REITER in Memory of Victor Reiter and Jules Pages-Two
1 80 California Historical Society Quarterly
photographs: Victor Reiter and Jules Pages; Scrapbook containing impressions of seals
designed by Jules Pages; Oakland Daily News, January 12, 1874.
From MRS. EDWARD AUSTIN RIX-Mortar and pestle made by Justinian Caire
& Co., 1874.
From MRS. MARGARET SCHLICHTMAN and HON. A. T. SHINE-Certificate
of merit for excellence in arithmetic awarded to Gabriel Peralta by Georgetown College,
Washington, D. C, 1859; Autograph album which was owned by Katie Belle Stevens;
One package of Japanese pocket warmers; Autograph album which was owned by
Alice Phelan Yates.
From MRS. THOMAS M. SHEPHERD-Collection of materials relating to music
in San Francisco, Public schools of San Francisco, and photographs from the Estate of
Estelle Carpenter.
From MRS. LOWELL STEPHENSON-Two Digger Indian Baskets, Tailor shears
and thimble, Frying pan and pocket shaving mirror.
From MISS LOTTIE G. WOODS-A collection of materials relating to San Fran-
cisco; Photographs: Panama Pacific International Exposition, Midwinter Fair, Portola
Festival 1909, Earthquake and Fire 1906; Badge (Republican League of California) ;
deeds and receipts.
Gifts of Remembrance
A gift representing the combined generosity of several of our members
and friends is that of the especially designed, printed, and bound Book of
Remembrance, which has been completed and is now on view to members
and visitors in the Society's rooms. This beautiful book was designed by
Alfred Kennedy and printed by Lawton Kennedy of the Westgate Press,
Oakland, both of whom donated their time and skill. The full morocco bind-
ing is the work of William Wheeler, San Francisco, made possible through
the generosity of Ralph H. Cross, chairman of the Library Committee.
William J. Reed, San Francisco scribe, contributed the illumination of the
title page in gold leaf and color, and will continue to inscribe the names of
persons in whose memory contributions are made to the Library Fund.
Recent contributions have been made in memory of the following:
E. A. Burbank Virginia Utz Jobe
Edward B. Field Arthur C. Kennedy
Whitney Palache
News of the Society 1 8 1
January 31, 1949
As has been customary for several years past, the books of the Society have been
audited by Messrs. Farquhar and Heimbucher. Their full report for 1948 is on file at the
headquarters of the Society, a summary being given belov^^.
REPORT OF THE TREASURER
BALANCE SHEET
As at December 31, 1948
ASSETS
Cash— Commercial Account $ 2,256.30
Savings Account 2,373.44
Office Revolving Fund 20.00 $ 4,649.74
U. S. Savings Bonds, G $ 1,100.00
Accounts Receivable
General Fund 32.89
Pubhcation Fund 70.08 102.97
Inventory of Publications 3,586.50
Prepaid Insurance 408.55
Total Assets* $ 9,847.76
LIABILITIES
Accounts Payable— General Fund $ 30-3^
Sales Tax Payable— State $ 36.33
City .09 36.42
Withholding Tax Payable 259.40
Contributions Reserved for Special Purposes 875.00
Dues Collected in Advance 720.50
$ 1,921.68
FUNDS
General Fund ($ 66.73)
Publication Fund 5,839.58
Library Fund 1,053.23
Cavalier Memorial Fund 1,100.00 7,926.08
Total Liability and Funds $ 9,847.76
GENERAL FUND INCOME STATEMENT
For the Year Ended December 31, 1948
RECEIPTS
Dues— Active Members $12,040.00
Sustaining Members 3,475.00
Patron Members 2,600.00 $18,115.00
*Library collections, furniture and equipment are not valued on the books; the insur-
ance value of the Library and Collections is $76,668.08.
1 8 2 California Historical Society Quarterly
Contributions— General 25.00
Special Purposes 1,013.00 1,038.00
Sales of Quarterly 646.58
Sales of Prints 151.20
Interest on Savings Account 29.91
Miscellaneous Revenue 50.98
Total Receipts $20,031.67
hcss— Expenditures
Operating Expenses
Salaries $10,417.55
Rent 2,160.00
Telephone 178.02
Office Supplies 422.49
Postage and Express 148.90
Furniture and Equipment i34-i9
Insurance 179-43
Library Expenses 6.61
Miscellaneous 1,010.97 $14,658.16
Membership and Publicity 41.81
Luncheon Expenses 428.35
Quarterly Publication Costs* 6,095.71
Total Expenditures $21,224.03
Excess of Receipts Over Expenditures . . ($ 1,192.36)
Fund Balance at Beginning of Year 1,125.63
Fund Balance at E?id of Year ($ 66.73)
PUBLICATION FUND INCOME STATEMENT
For the Year Ended December 31, 1948
Sales of Publications $ 2,636.35
Less— Cost of Sales
Beginning Inventory $ 607.55
Purchases 5,127.90
$ 5.73545
Less -Ending Inventory 3,586.50 2,148.95
*This figure represents the costs of publishing last year's December Quarterly and
the March, June and September Quarterlies for the current year.
News of the Society 1 8 3
Gross Profit From Sales $ 487.40
Less— Selling Expense 202.45
Net Profit From Sales $ 284.95
Interest on Savings Account 20.32
Net Gain to Fund $ 305.27
Fund Balance at Beginning of Year 57534-3 1
Fund Balance at End of Year $ 5^839.58
LIBRARY FUND INCOME STATEMENT
For the Year Ended December 31, 1948
Receipts
Sale of Duplicate Books $ 5<5-50
Contributions 660.41
Interest on Savings Account 5.40
Total Receipts % 722.31
hess— Expenditures
Purchase of Wiltsee Books $ 400.00
Shelving 15-90
Miscellaneous 81.86
Total Expenditures 497 -7^
Net Increase in Fund $ 224.55
Fund Balance at Beginning of Year 828.68
Fund Balance at End of Year $ 1,053.23
CAVALIER MEMORIAL FUND INCOME STATEMENT
For the Year Ended December 31, 1948
Contributions $ 700.00
Fund Balance at Beginning of Year 400.00
Fund Balance at End of Year $ 1,100.00
Meetings
On February lo, 1949, Jackson Burke of the Stanford University Press,
and operator, with his wife, Marie Louise, of an old hand press, spoke on
examples of this kind of typographic mechanism as they are owned and run
by private individuals in California. It is a subject to which much attention
has been given, ever since, at the Golden Gate International Exposition in
1940, the Roxburghe Club's display of books inspired Edward Laroque
Tinker to devote his entire space, in the book section of the New York
Times, July 14, 1940, to a description of California's private presses.
After some direct quotations as to what constitutes a private press, in the
mind of its operator as well as in the nature of the equipment itself, Mr.
Burke took up the roster (from 1900, on) of these expert craftsmen and
described each one's particular output. As references, he cited, in addition
to the New York Times article mentioned above, a book by Mrs. Louise F.
Barr on the Fr esses of Northern California (Berkeley, 1934) ; his own article
on contemporary hand-presses, operating in the same area of the state
(Quarterly News Letter, Book Club of California, Autumn 1948, pp. 75-85) ;
and Ward Ritchie on those of southern California (ibid., Winter 1947, pp.
3-9). His hearers' special attention was called to the recent honor paid Lewis
& Dorothy Allen, Hillsborough, in having had two of their books selected
by the American Institute of Graphic Arts for inclusion in its Fifty Book
Show— this, in spite of the Aliens' restricted facilities, which make it exceed-
ingly difficult to maintain color while printing two pages at a time. As Mr.
Burke pointed out, such a feat is hard enough when sixteen or thirty-two
pages are printed simultaneously. Another press to be honored by a Graphic
Arts selection was the Greenwood Press of Jack Stauffacher and Adrian
Wilson in San Francisco. One left the luncheon with the feeling that the
urgency which makes private pressmen attempt to secure perfect results
from their hand equipment (often a makeshift contrivance, at best, cast
aside by a professional) goes a long way toward dimming the line between
what is a craft and the canons delimiting art.
To have remained genial while in pursuit of the origin of geographic
names may have been hard at times, but Dr. Edwin G. Gudde, professor of
German at the University of California and editor of California Place
Names (Berkeley, 1949) had no trouble in convincing his audience at the
luncheon meeting of March tenth that it had been the case with him.
When applied to any country, toponomy (or the more familiar, "topo-
graphic nomenclature") calls for learning, imagination, and a certain stub-
born resistance to the merely plausible. On the whole, though, toponyms
make a lovely subject for study. Is a river's name simply an ancient word
signifying "wet" to the former inhabitants; does the name for a peak perpet-
184
Neivs of the Society 1 8 5
uate someone's idea of poetic appropriateness; was there a military encamp-
ment at such and such a place; etc.? Dig down deep into a name and it will
tell you— perhaps. Whatever the definiteness of the results may be, you will
discover things. You'll find names signifying the character of the pre-existing
race, or of this or that set of name-giving individuals who had become in-
fused with that race's propensities. And once a name is bestowed, it runs the
risk of being transported, intact or modified, to turn up somewhere, way
out of its original racial context and appearing homesick amid some alien
cornfield or at some crossroad of commerce. Down each scent over the
length of the Cahfornia scene Dr. Gudde has gone, with the aggregation in
his latest book to show for it. He has outlined, besides, a chronological fre-
quency as to when the members of California's toponymic democracy
tended to appear on sign posts: saints, Indian chiefs, geologists, postmasters,
writers and their works, the classic example of the last being Montalvo's
realm as the source of this state's own name— an example, by the way, which
possibly stood alone in the literary frequency for that early period. One
might cite many other names, were there room. Alhambra Valley's deriva-
tion from the euphonious rendering of the Spanish Arroyo de Hambre
(valley of hunger) reminds one of the less euphonious English inn's name,
Goat and Compasses, transformed from the phrase, "God Encompasseth."
Dr. Gudde's talk was well worthwhile, not just for the fun of it, but for a
delightful freshening of history.
When the sculptors John G. Borglum and his son impressed on a mountain
front in South Dakota a group of presidential likenesses, the air pulsated with
the tap, tap, tap of hammers and chisels; and one must go miles, as a transient,
to admire the results. Francis P. Farquhar, author of Yosemite, the Big Trees,
and the High Sierra: a Selective Bibliography (Berkeley, 1948) has used a
different method. When he re-peopled the region of the High Sierra with
its devoted ones, the air pulsated with the tap, tap, tap of his typewriter;
whence the printing presses took over, the result being that mountains and
mountaineers, waterfalls and great trees can now be held, possessively, in
the hand.
At the luncheon meeting on April fourteenth, last, Mr. Farquhar acted as
proxy for a dozen or so of the writers whose books and pamphlets make up
the twenty-five entries in his annotated and expanded bibliography, each
entry being selected for its unusual character and/or importance. First to be
proxied was Zenas Leonard whose Narrative is called the principal source of
information on Joseph R. Walker's trip from the Great Salt Lake to Cali-
fornia in 1833. With Nos. 2 and 3 came in the unstated authors of write-ups
for the New York and London exhibitions, in 1 854 and '57, of rival examples
of the "vegetable monster" from California— called ^^Americus^^ and also
" Wellingtonia^^ Gigantea before the name settled down into Sequoia Gigan-
1 86 California Historical Society Quarterly
tea. The tree always gave trouble to urban architects: they had to make
exhibit halls "high studded enough" to admit the setting up of Gigantea or
her sections. Then were introduced to the author-speaker's hearers J. M.
Hutchings and Edward Vischer, who tended to rhapsodical (who wouldn't
be!) representations of the tree and its site. State Geologist (afterwards
Harvard professor) J. D. Whitney, auriferous-gravel and climatic-change
scientist, came on the scene next with his technical survey, etc. (Nos. 6 and
7), followed by John S. Hittell, holding what appeared to be the first guide-
book to the Yosemite.
Though Samuel Kneeland, one of the wanderers (No. 10) had to be
proxied, too, there is a photograph of him in the book. Neither could
"Viscountess Avonmore" Therese Yelverton (No. 1 1 ) nor her heroine
[Man] Zanita (Florence Hutchings, prototype) attend, nor the hero "Ken-
muir" (a John Muir derivative); but it was all very entertaining, anyway.
John Muir, unfictionalized, was introduced again (No. 21) with his Letters
to a Friend, same being Jeanne C. (Smith) Carr, wife of Prof. Ezra S. Carr
of the University of Wisconsin, where the three had met, Muir as a student;
and one heard him recommend lying upon the rocks "for years as the ice
did," in order to understand them. One moonlight night he and Joseph Le-
Conte (No. 14) did that very thing above Tenaya Lake (see Farquhar's
page 47). A curtain call brought in Muir again, this time to a Japanese stage,
where Ojima Torimizu is christened "the John Muir of Japan" by T. H.
Kinoshita, companion of Shuki Nakamura (No. 22), "conquerors" of Mt.
Whitney —a challenge with which Clarence King had grappled much earlier
in his Mountaineering in the Sierra Nevada (No. 12).
Another lass, besides the "Viscountess," as author, was Constance F.
Gordon-Cumming (No. 17). She had already cruised the seas on a French
man-of-war and had written it up; after which Granite Crags must have
posed a quite different type for her to weather. Dr. David Starr Jordan,
ichthyologist and president of Stanford University at the time (1903),
showed how well he knew the Alps of the King-Kern Divide (No. 19) ; and
there was "Billy" or Elizabeth White, wife of Stewart Edward White (No.
20), whose name descended, or rather, ascended, to Elizabeth Pass; and we
were told, too, that the "Forest Ranger" in White's book was Sam L. N. Ellis
of Tulare County. The list closed with official reports (Nos. 23-25). One
wished devoutly that the restriction to twenty-five had applied to some
other bibliography than Farquhar's.
New Members
Name
Miss Johanna Volkmann
Mrs. John PhiHp Coghlan
George A. Scott
Harvey E. Starr, M.D.
Henry M. Andersen
Arizona. Dept. of Library & Archives
Mrs. William Leroy Atkinson
Miss Loleta Benbow
Sister Agnes Bernard
Darrell J. Bogardus
Mrs. Thomas Bunn
Commonwealth Club of California
Elbert S. Conner
Edwin Corle
A. L, Davis
Miss Muriel Drury
Howard F. Fletcher
Paul W. Gallaher
Mrs. Lou Ann Garrett
Mrs. Roscoe Benbow Hope
Rex E. Hrusoff
George W. Jones
L. M. Klauber
Jack H. Lund
Mrs. M. Hall McAllister
Mrs. H. B. McFarland
John R. McKee
Harold G. Mason
Roy E. Mayo
John Vincent Meherin, Jr.
Mrs. Maxwell C. Milton
Mrs. L. Gage Rand
Richard Raoul-Duval
Col. Fred B. Rogers
Andrew F. Rolle
Miss Amelie Rougeau
Mrs. Marcia Wynn Samelson
San Benito County Free Library
Mrs. Mary Singleton Sigourney
John W. Snyder
Mrs. Bert Swenson
Justin G. Turner
Edwin V .Van Amringe
Burdick F. Williams
Address
Patron
San Francisco
Sustaining
San Francisco
San Diego
Los Angeles
Active
Fresno
Phoenix
San Jose
Benbow
Los Angeles
Los Angeles
Pebble Beach
San Francisco
Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara
Oakland
Berkeley
San Francisco
Glendale
San Luis Obispo
Ben Bow
Oakland
San Rafael
San Diego
Berkeley
Redlands
Berkeley
San Francisco
Piedmont
San Leandro
San Mateo
Oakland
Hollywood
San Francisco
Berkeley
Pasadena
Columbus, N. J.
Los Angeles
Hollister
Mills College
Pasadena
Stockton
Los Angeles
Altadena
Los Angeles
Proposed by
Mrs. Daniel Volkmann
Miss Else Schilling
Aubrey Drury
A. R. Van Noy, Sr.
Robert H. Edgerton
Membership Committee
Miss Rowena Beans
Reuben L. Underbill
Membership Committee
Darwin S. Chesney
Membership Committee
Morton R. Gibbons, M.D.
Membership Committee
Membership Committee
Ralph H. Cross
Aubrey Drury
Miss Else Schilling
Membership Committee
Membership Committee
Reuben L. Underbill
Harold C. Holmes
Warren R. Howell
Allen L. Chickering
Warren R. Howell
Continuing Mr. Mc-
Allister's membership
Homer C. Votaw and
Mrs. Rogers Parratt
Membership Committee
Membership Committee
Harvey B. Lyon
Continuing father's
membership
Mrs. Clarence Shuey
Membership Committee
Membership Committee
Mrs. Rogers Parratt
Robert G. Cleland
Membership Committee
Membership Committee
Membership Committee
Honor Award
L. M. Klauber
Carlos La Moine
Membership Committee
Membership Committee
Warren R. Howell
Marginalia
Notes on Authors in This Issue:
For biographical sketches on Anson S. Blake, J. N. Bowman, and Benjamin
F. Gilbert, see index to this Quarterly, Vol. XXVI (1947); and to Vol.
XXVII ( 1948) for the same on A. T. Leonard, Jr., M.D., and A. P. Nasatir.
Dr. Bowman is at present historian for the central records bureau, office of
the secretary of state at Sacramento, and Mr. Gilbert is a teaching assistant
in history at the University of California.
Richard H. Dillon is a native of Sausalito and a graduate of the University
of California (1948), majoring in history. For one semester after the close
of the last war, he attended the Biarritz American University in France.
Latterly he has traveled in Mexico and Cuba, and is now teaching at St.
Mary's College High School.
Mrs. Ella W. Ryan's "sound and enthusiastic instruction in history" at
Galileo High School, San Francisco, is still held in high esteem by Henry
Madden, translator and editor of Xantus' letters. He is a graduate of Stanford
University (A.B., 1933) and was granted the Ph.D. degree at Columbia in
1948, where, for the year 1935-36 he had been a Schiff Fellow. Dr. Madden's
studies also took him to the Royal Hungarian University of Budapest
(1936-37), and he is now (Jan. 1949) abroad again as a member of the inter-
national refuge organization, stationed at Linz.
John Scaglione, born in Santa Barbara, took his A.B. degree (history
major) at the University of California in 1941 and is now working toward
his M.A. (see note 19 of his present paper on Ogden), while teaching at the
Martinez high school.
Among Our New Members:
Henry Mattel Andersen (b. Fresno, 1925; A. B. degree, Stanford Univer-
sity, 1948) is engaged in ranching near Fresno with his father, Henry Ander-
sen, a native of Denmark. Quarterly readers will remember from Miss
Thickens' article on early colonists in the Fresno area (issue of March 1946,
p. 30) that it was a Scandinavian who first discovered the county's adapta-
bility to grapes as wine and raisin producers in 1873. On both the Danish and
Swiss sides of Mr. Andersen's family this discovery has contributed to their
genius for soil cultivation, as may be seen from the account and photograph
of his Swiss grandfather, Andrew Mattel (whose wife was Eleanor Joughin
of Los Angeles) in J. M. Guinn, History of the State of California and Bio-
graphical Record of the San Joaquin Valley (Chicago, 1905), pp. 607-608.
Coincident with Henry Mattel Anderson's honorable discharge from the
U. S. army air force in 1945 came his purchase of Bancroft's History of
California, as the war had opened his eyes to several lapses in soldiers' knowl-
188
Marginalia 1 89
edge of their particular state's history and of national history as well. We
civilians are not exactly immune from similar lapses.
When a bare personal statement comes into our files from a new member,
saying that his father, A. E. Klauber, came to California in 1 849 and located
at Volcano in Amador County, we try other sources. We have found, for
instance, the following citation in connection with the awarding of the
LL.D. degree to Laurence M. Klauber (A.B., Stanford University, 1908) by
the University of California in 1941 : ". . . scholar in the fields of engineer-
ing and natural history, inventor of ingenious electrical distribution appara-
tus, inspiring force in many a scientific organization, student of reptiles,
skilled in the application of statistical methods, a business executive who by
sheer love of learning has made a place for himself in the company of
academic men." It might be remarked here that Mr. Klauber, after serving
as president for two years, is now chairman of the board of directors of the
San Diego Gas and Electric Company, with which he has been associated
since 191 1.
Mrs. L. Gage Rand is the daughter of Henry T. Gage, governor of Cali-
fornia from 1899 to 1903. On her mother's side she traces her descent from
Francisco Lugo, an arrival in California from Sinaloa shortly after 1769.
This comes about through the marriage of her grandfather, Isaac (or Julian)
Williams to Maria de Jesus Lugo, granddaughter of Francisco. Of Isaac
Williams, Bancroft (History of California, V-tjJS) says that he was "one of
the typical rancheros of southern Cal., enterprising, hospitable. . . ." Mrs.
Rand's history interests include early California painters and the oldest
varieties of roses grown here.
Col. Fred. B. Rogers, U. S. army, retired, is known to members of the
Society through his Quarterly articles on early military posts of California
and as speaker at luncheon meetings (see reference to his book. Soldiers of
the Overland y etc., in this Quarterly, March 1947, p. 93). He is at present
completing a biography of Capt. Henry L. Ford (1822-60), in his various
capacities as soldier, rancher, and Indian agent at the Nome Lackee and
Mendocino reservations. Colonel Rogers reports having found much
hitherto unpublished material pertaining to Ford.
Mrs. Marcia Wynn Samelson was "born on the Baltic gold mine, about a
mile from Randsburg, Kern County. . . ."Her grandfather (a second cousin
of Mrs. Grover Cleveland Preston), Charles H. Wynn, was a law graduate
of Ann Arbor, Michigan, who moved his family (his wife was Euphemia
Rittenhouse) to Los Angeles, but instead of practicing there he went to the
new desert mining camp at Randsburg. Mrs. Samelson's father was Wilbur
Webster Wynn. He married Mabel Jessamyn Heaton, a native of Columbus,
Kansas, in Johannesburg in 1900. Mrs. Samelson thus has mining well woven
into her background, and is contemplating authorship of a book on her own
early life in Goldfield, Nevada.
1 90 California Historical Society Quarterly
George Alexander Scott, high ranking official of Walker's Department
Store, San Diego, was born in Crieff, Scotland, educated in Calgary, Canada,
and at New York University, and has traveled widely abroad. His interna-
tional experience may now be seen reflected in the expansion of his business
and in his generous attitude toward the many kinds of welfare and artistic
organizations of San Diego.
Nebraska was the birthplace and remained the home of Mrs. Bert Edward
Swenson (Stella Spillner Swenson) until she and her husband went to River
Falls, Wisconsin. Here she taught at the normal school and gave much of
her time to the activities of the Camp Fire Girls— an interest which she kept
up after moving to Stockton in 19 18. She had, during her residence in Stock-
ton, assumed important responsibilities in connection with the San Joaquin
chapter of the American Red Cross. Mrs. Swenson completed the require-
ments for the A. B. degree at the College of the Pacific in 1934, and since
1947 has been pursuing graduate studies with Dr. Rockwell D. Hunt in
California history, the subject of her report being the history of Silver Lake,
Amador County. For the year 1947 she acted as editor of Bonanza, the bulle-
tin of the Mother Lode chapter of the Sierra Club.
Before coming to California, Justin G. Turner practiced law in Chicago
from 1920 to 1942. As a collector of Calif orniana he finds special pleasure
in bibliographies, diaries, and early newspapers. Mr. Turner was one of the
organizers of the National Society of Autograph Collectors and is now its
west coast director.
Correspondence
In connection with the article on Thomas Vincent Cator by Harold F.
Taggart, which appeared in the March 1949 issue of the Quarterly, and
particularly in connection with the footnote, number 49, on page ^^ read-
ing as follows:
An interesting incident in the campaign was the attack leveled at Maguire by Father
Peter Yorke of San Francisco in the last few days of thie campaign. That a deal had been
made, tacitly or otherwise, is indicated by the appointment of Father Yorke to the board
of regents of the University of California by Governor Gage
the Hon. Joseph Scott, a member of the Society and a distinguished citizen
of California residing in Los Angeles, has written us to the effect that the
appointment of Father Peter C. Yorke as a Regent of the University of Cali-
fornia was not the result of a "deal" as might be inferred from this note.
We are grateful to Mr. Scott for his suggestion in this regard.
Mr. W. W. Winn informs us that his grandfather, Albert Maver Winn
(see this Quarterly, March 1949, p. 93) was colonel of the ist regiment,
Mississippi Militia, not Volunteers Mexican War, as stated. Colonel Winn
acted as one of the judges when Jefferson Davis was elected to the latter
office.
CALIFORNIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Incorporated March 6, 1886 Reorganized March 27, 1922
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Aubrey Drury, President
Joseph R. Knowland, First Vice-President
Morton R. Gibbons, Second Vice-President
Francis P. Farquhar, Third Vice-President
Warren Howell, Secretary
George L. Harding, Treasurer
K. K. Bechtel Allen L. Chickering Mrs. Elizabeth Gray Potter
Garner A. Beckett Ralph H. Cross Porter Sesnon
Anson S. Blake A. T. Leonard, Jr. Mrs. Daniel Volkmann
Committee on Special Publications: Francis P. Farquhar, Chairman; Allen L. Chick-
ering, William W. Clary, George L. Harding, Miss Caroline Wenzel, Carl I. Wheat,
Lynn T. White, Jr.
Committee on Membership and Publicity: Joseph R. Knowland, Chairman; Aubrey
Drury, Henry F. Dutton, Morton R. Gibbons, Edgar M. Kahn, George H. Kress,
Miss Else Schilling, Joe G. Sweet.
Committee on Luncheon Meetings: Anson S. Blake, Chairmian; Mrs. Mae Helene
Bacon Boggs, Mrs. Georges de Latour, Aubrey Drury, Morton R. Gibbons, Mrs. James
Jenkins, Mrs. Gerald D. Kennedy, Mrs. Alice B. Maloney, Loren B. Taber, Mrs.
Daniel Volkmann.
Committee on Rooms and Exhibits: Warren Howell, Chairman; Mrs. A. J. Bancroft,
A. T. Leonard, Jr., Miss Frances M. Molera, Albert Shumate, Lee L. Stopple, Mrs.
J. J. Van Nostrand.
Committee on Historic Names and Sites: A. T. Leonard, Jr., Chairman; Mrs. Mae
Helene Bacon Boggs, Clarence Coonan, Ralph H. Cross, Edgar B. Jessup.
Committee on Library and Gifts: Ralph H. Cross, Chairman; Mrs. Mae Helene
Bacon Boggs, Miss Edith Coulter, Augustin S. Macdonald, Thomas W. Norris, A. T.
Shine, Chester W. Skaggs, Mrs. J. J. Van Nostrand, Leon Whitsell.
Committee on Finance: K. K. Bechtel, Chairmajj; Allen L. Chickering, Francis P.
Farquhar, C. R. Tobin, Mrs. Daniel Volkmann.
Patron Members
Mrs. Wallace Alexander
Miss Edith W. Allyne
Miss Lucy H. Allyne
K. K. Bechtel
Mrs. Irving Berlin
Anson S. Blake
Mrs. M. H. B. Boggs
Mrs. William Cavalier
Allen L. Chickering
William W. Crocker
Mrs. Edward L. Doheny
Sidney M. Ehrman
Mrs. Sidney M. Ehrman
James Flood
Raymond C. Force
Miss Margaret A. Jacks
C. O. G. Miller
Henry D. Nichols
Mrs. William B. Roth
Mrs. Henry Potter Russell
Miss Else Schilling
Rudolph Schilling
Porter Sesnon
Tallant Tubes
Mrs. Daniel Volkmann
Miss Johanna Volkmann
Willard O. Wayman
Mrs. John Payson Adams
Mrs. Merritt Adamson
Hugh S. Allen
Mrs. Leonora Wood Armsby
John B. F. Bacon
Philip A. Bailey
Wakefield Baker
Mrs. William P. Baker
Paul Bancroft
Philip Bancroft
Bank of America
Garner A. Beckett
Mrs. Frank Bennett
Miss Hope Bliss
Leon Bocqueraz
John D. Bradley
J. R. Brehm
Mrs. Julla Fox Brooke
Mrs. Carlton Bryan
W. S. Burnett
Sustaining Members
Mrs. George Cadwalader
George T. Cameron
Mrs. Henry Cartan
Selah Chamberlain, Jr.
Harold S. Chase
Bruce Church
Mrs. Edmond D. Coblentz
Mrs. John Philip Coghlan
Peter Cook, Jr.
Frederick C. Cordes, M.D.
Mrs. Talmage Burton Crane
Ralph H. Cross
Homer D. Crotty
Mrs. Richard Y. Dakin
Edward A. Dickson
Lloyd Dinkelspiel
Mrs. Hugh T. Dobbins
Miss Christine Donohoe
T. G. Douglas
Aubrey Drury
Henry F. Dutton
Stanly A. Easton
E. W. Ehmann
Mrs. Camille J. Ehrenfels
Amos W. Elliott
Herbert Eloesser
Charles Elsey
Mrs. Milton H. Esberg
Harry H. Fair
Francis P. Farquhar
James Farraher
Paul B. Fay
H. G. Fenton
Roland C. Foerster
C. E. Fryer
Morton R. Gibbons, M.D.
Mrs. Frank R. Girard
Albert H. Gorie
Mrs. Joseph T. Grace
Allen Griffin
The Original Constitution of California of 1849
By J. N. Bowman
THE engrossed constitution, which has been in the custody of the
secretary of state since 1 849, has been regarded by tradition as the
original constitution enacted by the convention in Monterey. How-
ever, the reading of the Journal^ of the convention and of the Browne Report^
indicates that the engrossed copy was, itself, made from another document,
namely, the constitution as considered and adopted by the convention. An
account of the finding and the identification of this original constitution is
the object of the present paper.
The engrossed constitution, in a binding of bufir-colored cloth, is written
on both sides of nineteen parchment pages, i^Yz x 12 inches, each page being
edged with red cloth. The last page is devoted to the actual signatures of
47 of the 48 members of the convention— Pedro Sainsevaine failed to sign.
Within the front cover and preceding the engrossed constitution, is the
official Spanish translation, made by W. E. P. Hartnell and written on heavy
white paper; the 45 pages, 12 x 7 V2 inches in size, are written on both sides,
with the last page devoted to the copied signatures of 46 of the 48 conven-
tion members— the signatures of Pedro Sainsevaine and H. A. TeflFt are
omitted.
At the evening session of the convention on October 6, Miguel de Pedro-
rena, James McHall Jones, and M. G. Vallejo were appointed on the engross-
ing committee,^ with instructions to have the constitution written in English
on parchment, together with a Spanish translation made by the official con-
vention interpreter, Hartnell, also on parchment. Since the articles of the
constitution were adopted after the third reading on October 10 and 1 1 and
the engrossed copy was signed at the afternoon session of October 13, the
engrossing took place within the two or three intervening days. It was done
by a Mr. Hamilton who was voted $500 for his work.* A copy of the consti-
tution was also made at the end of the Journal, with the copied signatures of
all forty-eight of the members. The question is: were the engrossed and the
Journal copies made from each other or from an original?
On October 12, one day before the engrossed copy was signed, W. H.
Halleck, delegate from Monterey, sent to Maj. R. Allen in San Francisco, for
printing, a copy "of the constitution just formed by the Convention."^ This
implies a constitution before the engrossed copy.
In the Journal from September 3 to October 4^ are references to docu-
ments marked A to Z "on file," including various articles of the later consti-
tution. These documents have been located in file No. 11 69 in the state
archives; eighty-six are different versions of the thirteen sections (preamble
193
1 94 California Historical Society Quarterly
and twelve articles) of the final instrument and are scattered among the ar-
ticles, from one to twenty-three per article. By comparing the papers of each
of the articles, included in this file, with the Journal copy and with the en-
grossed copy, it is possible to locate for each of these articles of the proposed
constitution the version which was used for the third reading and which was
adopted on October lo and 1 1.
The articles selected in this manner as the probable originals have been
checked by four additional methods:
1. In Browne's Report'^ is given the final action on each article: in Article
I "a few verbal errors" were made right; in Article IV "several errors" in
phraseology "were corrected"; in Article V "one or two verbal errors were
corrected"; and to Article XII, the Schedule, section 5, were added the fol-
lowing words, "and on the question of the adoption thereof." These amend-
ing notations as given by Browne are all found in the selected articles.
2. Another method of checking is by the use of the words "engrossed
copy" written on the front of the covers of seven of the ten files of the
twelve articles. These words were probably written by Hamilton at the time
of or after the engrossing on parchment. The handwriting seems to bear
some resemblance to that in the engrossed copy, but the words may have
been written on the copies made for the third reading. This is not conclusive
evidence, but it is contributory.
3. The third and most conclusive method is the verbal checking of these
selected articles with the engrossed copy, with the copy in the Journal, and
with that published by Mason in his Annotated Constitution of California.^
The engrossed copy follows the selected articles in all instances except for
the addition of the word "other" before "writs" in the last sentence of sec-
tion 4 of Article VI. The copy in the Journal is not so faithful in following
the selected articles as the engrossed copy. In three cases words are added ;^
in four instances words are omitted ;^'^ in one case the singular of "corpora-
tions" is used;^^ in one instance words are transposed ;^^ and in one case the
words "shall be supp>orted" are repeated. ^^ These are all verbal changes and
in no way alter the meaning materially. Mason's copy of the constitution is
found by this verbal checking to have been made from the Journal copy
with later corrections from the engrossed copy.^*
The verbal changes made in the selected articles from the second reading
are very few. In four instances words were deleted, in one case two words
were added, in five instances substitute words were introduced, and in one
instance the spelling of a word was corrected. ^^
4. The fourth method of checking is the comparison of the use of commas
and semicolons in the four copies. The selected articles use 654 commas
while the engrossed copy reduces the number to 521; the Journal copy in-
creases the number to 703 and Mason to 657. The selected articles use over
80 semicolons while the engrossed copy uses fewer than 70; but the Journal
Origifial California Constitution, 1 8 4^ 195
copy needs over 87 and Mason requires 73. Hamilton was a restricted user
of punctuation marks, and the engrossed copy gives evidence of the erasure
of a number of commas and of the changing of semicolons to commas.
The use of capital letters is not uniform in the original, the Journal, or the
engrossed copies. And in these copies sand rather than blotting paper was
used for blotting.
From these comparisons of the selected articles with the other three copies
it is inferred that these selected articles form the original constitution as
passed by the convention and from which both the engrossed and the Jour-
nal copies were made.
The original constitution now exists in nine separate folders as they were
adopted by the convention. The Preamble is a half sheet of plain white paper
filed in the front of the folder of Article I. Articles I, III and IV bound to-
gether, and V to X also bound together, are written on one side of large
sheets of plain white paper, folded to form pages 1 2 K x 8 inches; Articles II
and XI are written in the same manner on smaller sheets, folded to form
pages 10x8 inches; while Article XII has the Boundary and the Schedule
both written on large sheets of blue ruled paper, folded to form pages 13x8
inches. An addition to section 19 of Article IV is written on plain blue paper
pasted on the left margin of the page. The number of pages for the articles
run from two to nine. All the folders were folded twice for filing except the
Preamble.
As mentioned above, the Preamble is inserted in a loose manner in the
front of the folder of Article I. The Boundary of Article XII is folded and
unbound. All the other articles are covered with a tan-colored paper, form-
ing a back larger than the enclosed pages and stitched to the sheets with
narrow pink ribbons on the left margins. Articles III and IV are bound to-
gether as are also Articles VII to X. All the folders excepting that contain-
ing Article V have "engrossed copy" written on the front of the front pages
of the covers: on the back of the folder of Article I is written "original en-
grossed copy of the Constitution. J.E.H." (J. E. Howe was an engrossing
clerk of the convention.) Each folder and the unbound part of Article XII
have written on the front of the folder the proper article with its title.
These separate folders and papers of the original constitution of 1 849 are
now bound in a separate covering and are filed with the engrossed copy and
with the Journal of the Convention.
Among the papers in this file of the papers of the 1 849 convention are
three copies of the Address to the People of California, one of which is the
original signed by all members of the convention except Henry A. TefFt.
It is bound with the original constitution as part two.
Such an address had been proposed by Stewart on September 27, but no
action was taken until October 1 1 , when a committee of ten, one from each
district, was appointed: Stewart, McDonegal, Vermuele, Larkin, Hoppe,
1 96 California Historical Society Quarterly
Walker, Tefft, De la Guerra, Stearns, and Pedrorena. On October 1 3 the
address was adopted.
The nature of the constitution and of the address, written within a period
of six weeks, raises a question as to the characteristics of the membership of
the convention and of their activities. The convention was in session forty-
three days; six of these days were Sundays when no sessions were held, but
this loss of time was made up by twenty night sessions. The actual work on
the building of the constitution from the first report of an article on Septem-
ber 7 to the final adoption on October 1 1, covered thirty actual work days
with the twenty night sessions.
The task was performed by fourteen lawyers, twelve ranchers, nine mer-
chants, four military men, two surveyors, two printers, and two of unknown
professions, one banker, one physician, and one man "of leisure." They ar-
rived in California from states east of the Mississippi except one from Ore-
gon and the seven Californians. Ten hailed from New York, seven from
Missouri, four from Louisiana, three from Maryland, two each from New
Jersey, Virginia, Massachusetts, and one each from Connecticut, Illinois,
Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Wisconsin, together with one each
from France, Scotland, and Spain.
Six had been in California all of their lives, one most of his life, one for
twenty years, two for sixteen years, two for ten years, two for four and ten
for three years; five had been in the country only four months, nine had been
in the territory less than one year and nineteen less than three years.^^
The ages of the members ranged from twenty-five to fifty-three, with an
average age of 36.6 years; the largest number falling within one year were the
six of thirty-four years of age. Eight were in their twenties, twenty-three in
their thirties, twelve in their forties, and only four were over fifty years
of age.
The California constitution of 1 849 was the work of young and energetic
men, more than half of whom were relatively new in the country. The new
constitution, which served the new state both before and after its admission
into the union, continued to serve as the basis of government until it was
revised in 1 879, and much of it continues without change to the present time.
NOTES
1. The Journal is in the state archives.
2. J. Ross Browne, Report of the Debates in the Convention of California on the For-
Tnation of the State Constitution, Washington, 1 850.
3. Journal, op. rii., pp. i3ofT.
4. No claim or other paper has been found, covering payment of this fee to Hamilton,
from which his full name could be ascertained.
5. Browne, op. cit., App., p. 44
Original Calif ornia Constitution, i8^p 197
6. Journal, op. ^/Y., pp. 2-1 14.
7. Browne, op. cit., pp. 458, 461.
8. Paul Mason, Constitution of the State of California, Annotated (Sacramento, 1946),
1429 ff.
9. "Their" in VI, § 7; "other" in IX, § 4; and "shaU" in Schedule, § 11.
ID. "Have" in IX, § 2; "section 4" in IX; "bribery" in XI, § 18; and "decrees" in XI,
§ 21.
11. In IV, § 33.
12. "Harbors and boys" in XII, Boundary.
13. In XI, § 18.
14. Yet Mason, op. cit., p. 1429 (note), states that, "The copy of the constitution of
1849 prepared by the secretary of the constitutional convention and appearing in the
original journal differs in several important particulars from the copy which was en-
grossed on parchment. The copy on parchment appears to be correct and is followed
here." Both statements must be questioned.
15. Deleted: "at all times" in I, § 2; "to all mankind" in § 4 of the same article; "the"
in V, § 15; "or" in § 19 of the same article. Additions: "for which" in IV, § 20. Substitute
words: "or" for "and" in I, § 6; "and they shall not" for "nor shall they" in IV, § 12;
"exercise" for "execute" in V, § 12; "meeting" for "session" in § 13 of the same article;
and "Government" for "Governor" in § 19 also of the same article. Spelling of "elymosi-
nary" was corrected in XI, § 16.
16. These biographical data are from the list of members published in Browne, op. cit.,
p. 478.
Documentary
Shipped, in good order and well conditioned, by W. H. Davis in and upon
the good Ship called the Charles whereof Thos. Andrews is Master, for the
present voyage, and now lying in the Port of Monterey and bound for
Honolulu Oahu To say
Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00) in gold
marked and numbered as in the margin [none, in this case], and are to be
delivered in the like good order and well conditioned, at the aforesaid port
of Honolulu Oahu (the dangers of the seas only excepted,) unto Mssrs.
Kenway & Robertson or to their Assigns, he or they paying freight for the
said goods [crossed out] money at the rate of three fourths per cent ( /4 %)
with out per cent. Primage, and average accustomed.
In Witness Whereof, the Master or Purser of the said Ship hath affirmed
to three Bills of Lading, all of this tenor and date, the one of which Bills
being accomplished, the others to stand void.
Dated at Monterey Thomas Andrews
Jan'y 18, 1848
Fro?n Whitcomh papers, in Collection of California Historical Society
198
The Oregon and California Letters of
Bradford Ripley Alden
ON August 24, 1853, in the region of Jacksonville, Oregon Territory,
"the Rogue River Indians, assisted by the Klamathes, Shastas, the
bands living on the Applegate and Grave creeks," were said by Gen-
eral of Volunteers Joseph Lane to have engaged a force of army regulars
and volunteers.^
As to the commander of the "regulars," the reader will discover upon
reaching Captain Alden's letter of August 11,. 1853, that he had his "hands
full" on this Jacksonville expedition. Under him were some 200 unpredict-
able volunteers (who might, as his letter of August twentieth says, "take it
into their heads to go home") and only ten from the Fort Jones garrison.
Moreover, his report to the adjutant general of the army shows that he was
"without a quartermaster or commissary sufficiently conversant with the
duties of those departments"; and when it was discovered that the Indians
had fled to the mountains, from whence, to quote the captain,
... it was apprehended they would descend in small bands to waylay the pack trains
on all the roads leading to the valley, the war at once assumed a new character of immi-
nent danger to the whole of Southern Oregon. Under these circumstances believing that,
from the nature of the service, the safety of the valley would be hazarded should I retain
the command, burdened with all the details of every subordinate department, I did not
hesitate to request General Lane to relieve me from the command of the volunteers.
The battle lasted for five hours. Reporting on the significance of the
treaty that was signed after the conflict and the exchange of opinions as to
mutual grievances. General Lane concluded:
A treaty of peace has been made with the Indians, and I have no doubt with proper
care it can be strictly maintained. The tribe is a very large one, and to a great extent con-
trols the tribes in this part of the country; a peace with them is a peace with all.
The encounter on August 24 was the result of several massacres retaliatory
to white encroachment on Indian land in the Rogue River area. By 1851,
Indian raids, in many cases started with excellent reason, had become so
prevalent that Gen. Ethan A. Hitchcock, commander of the Pacific division,
requested the war department for aid." Among the reinforcements arriving
from the Atlantic states were Captain Alden and his Company E, 4th U. S.
Infantry, who reached Fort Vancouver, via the Isthmus of Panama and San
Francisco, in the spring of 1853. By April they were ready to begin the 375-
mile journey through the wilderness to Fort Jones.
Bradford Ripley Alden (b. Allegheny, Pa., May 6, 181 1; d. Newport,
R. I., Sept. 10, 1870) was a West Point graduate, class of 183 1, who had done
battle before against Indians, when he fought the Seminoles in 1832-33 in
199
200 California Historical Society Quarterly
Florida.^ From August 13, 1833, to September 14, 1840, he was at West
Point, teaching, for varying periods, French, mathematics, and infantry tac-
tics. He next served (Sept. 1840-Jan. 1842) as aide-de-camp to Maj. Gen.
Winfield Scott.* By 1 845 we find him, now a captain, engaged in the military
occupation of Texas, this duty being followed on December 14 of that year
by appointment to commandant of cadets at West Point where he remained
until November i, 1852. Then came frontier duty at Fort Vancouver,^
where his letters begin. They are written to his wife, Anne Caroline (Cole-
man) Alden, to whom he makes clear his desire to resign from the army and
enter civilian life. This wish interferes in no way with Captain Alden's genius
for prosecuting his military responsibilities, the revelation of both of these
sides of his nature working to the advantage of the reader's understanding
of how great was the pull of the frontier on an imaginative, highly educated
officer of the United States army. Moreover, the troops assigned to the West
were fighting a war for which they had no liking; and the Indians— now
pillaging, now being pillaged— confessed to the same distaste when they told
General Lane that their "hearts were sick of war." (See note i.)
A nine-month span (March 26-Dec. 25, 1853) is covered by the letters.
Some three weeks before they begin, Millard Fillmore had been succeeded as
president of the United States by Franklin Pierce, who defeated Gen. Win-
field Scott, 254 electoral votes to 42. Pierce, though a New Englander, chose
Jefferson Davis of Mississippi as his secretary of war, and the reforms advo-
cated by the latter in his report of December i , 1853, enter like the responses
of a litany when read in connection with the letters— Captain Alden voicing
his own and his associates' complaints regarding the administration of the
army and Davis's recommendations pointing out what should be done for
correction of the abuses. On May 2, 1853, only two days before Pierce's
inauguration, Washington was made into a territory from land formerly
within Oregon, which had been given territorial status in 1848, so that some
confusion will be noticed in the superscription of the letters in assigning
Fort Vancouver to its proper political division. World affairs enter into the
correspondence: Edward Everett's conduct of the negotiations with France
and Great Britain with respect to Cuba is enthusiastically commended; the
fact that a revolution was in progress in China to drive out the Tatars is
mentioned by one of the captain's correspondents, preceded by a brief com-
ment on Oriental market possibilities [see note 63 below] ; and, while on the
subject of the Pacific, the reader might be reminded that on July 14, 1853,
Commodore Matthew C. Perry landed on the shore of the Bay of Yedo
(Tokyo), and by the following spring had succeeded in concluding the first
treaty to be signed between the United States and Japan, among its provi-
sions being the opening of certain Japanese ports to American trade. From
the breadth of Captain Alden's admiration for the flora, etc., etc., along his
march from Fort Vancouver to Fort Jones, one would be justified in assum-
Letters of Bradford Ripley Alden 201
ing that his interest would not be confined to Asia merely as a field for pluck-
ing investment bargains.
The letters are written partly in the form of a diary: some begin with
strictly family concerns and bear a date and place (inscribed in the upper
right-hand comer) later than the diary entries, which are introduced along
the left margin, or, at times, in the middle of a line. Captain Alden punctu-
ated profusely with small dashes. For convenience in printing, many of these
dashes have been replaced by commas.
Mar. 26.— . . . Two Indians are before my door, with two rugged and kit-
tenish looking little bear cubs. One of the companies has bought them for
pets, I hear. Ofiicers and soldiers often are wondrous lonely and low-spirited
at all out of the way stations. Pets are natural enough amusements for lonely
men The other evening, as I strolled in to cheer up old Col. Bonneville,^
he rose up to receive me, half asleep: ". . . Jove, Sir! Do you know, between
you and me, I felt so lonely and restless tonight I had half a mind to go up
to my bedroom and take a few drinks to myself, just to drown thought and
get a little boosy."
He never drinks, but many officers at out of the way stations get boosy
as he says, just to drown care. We are fortunate in not having one drinking
man at this post. . . .
Mar. 28.— . . . The stir now in my company is a marching stir— shoeing
mules, mending wagons and pack saddles, breaking in mules and drivers,
packing pork in sacks, roasting coffee, baking hard bread, gathering infor-
mation of the road, the grass, the water, the fords, etc. The English botanist
& ornithologist [John Jeffrey J'^ is to accompany me, a great acquisition.
These English people in the Hudson's Bay store are very unlike any business
people we have seen. In their large store every thing lies about open and
neglected. They manifest no anxiety to sell you any thing altho' they are
very polite. The store, too, is shut up for an hour at 1 2 M. and closes alto-
gether at sunset. . . .
. . . My rooms are very nice— large fireplace, center table and handsome
chairs, matting and a rug etc. In the hall, I hang up a lantern until eleven
o'clock. Our fare at the mess is quite poor. I shall have much better after I
commence my march. I shall sell my furniture^ fortunately for what I paid,
but I shall take my charming pony along with me. ... I shall be stirring for
thirty days, on the march nearly every day— seeing new sights, meeting with
the varieties that 40 mules will not fail to develop Our old frisky Colonel
[Bonneville] says, "My dear Captain— you'll be all alive, up there in the
mountains 5000 feet above the sea-shore. Your lungs will have no load to
carry. They'll trot off at a gallant pace, brisk and free as air, while here—
why here, we poke about . . . not much better than so many flies caught in
a molasses jug."
202 California Historical Society Quarterly
Mar. 29.— To-day we are feasting ourselves with thoughts of the mail,
expected to-morrow. Too cruel was the fate that kept back our last— making
it now a month since your last. . . .^
Mar. 31st.— Your sweet letter of Feb. loth has just arrived. . . . Get Col.
[W. F.] Freeman to enclose the letters for "Fort Jones, Scotts valley, Cali-
fornia" to the Asst. Adjt. Genl. at San Francisco— All is smiling and favor-
able here as at the first. . . . The mail came a day before its time, and leaves
a day before its time, confounding every body's mail. . . .
Apr. 6.— A day after the regular mail of 3 ist March— the back mail came,
bringing the missing letters, by the steamer from New York, of Feb. 5th.
. . . All day I have been on the alert superintending the drilling of my mules
. . . and the careful beforehand arrangements that I have to make for this
march of 375 miles. . . . The minutiae are endless. . . . For three days I have
had a new excitement . . . the appearance of Alvord,^^ in blouse and rough
overcoat, hatchet and canteen, excited with three days travel. . . . He seems
to be increasing in the faculty he possesses of enjoying life, nature, history,
men, books, acting, thinking, and dreaming. . . . We are all laughing at him,
admiring him, and enjoying his gossip, earnestness, and intelligence. . . .
Alvord is uncouth as old Dr. Johnson and not unlike him. He told a queer
story of Bloomerism" at table yesterday He said, "Bloomerism has done
wonders for Oregon— all the women emigrants, who cross the plains, dress
in that style. . . ." He is to be with me a week.
Apr. 8th.— After guard mounting, I attended to company duty and prepa-
rations for the march ... at 3 I dined and at 4V2 P.M. drilled my company
till parade. After parade came tea— and then I got to my room, alone, lit my
candles, and thought I had a good time to write, but like moths to the candle
in stumbled my visitors and kept me near two hours. . . . They cannot stay
in their quarters, not one of them, and as my quarters are cheery, my lights
good and they all like me, in they saunter, nearly every night. I set them
singing when I can— and some of them sing right well. Last night, Thomas L.
Brent, Christopher Colon Augur and the Adjutant were in, and I cleared off
the table and had a nice, refreshing game of whist until 10 o'clock You do
not know how much I long to be with you. ... I thank God that the idea of
duty is paramount to every thing else— and my greatest solace.
Apr. 9th.— [wholly personal ] .
Apr. I ith.— . . . Three nights since, the band gave me a serenade, and then
went round to the other houses. It was very pleasant. . . . Mr. Everetts letter
to the French minister on the tripartite treaty^^ has challenged our un-
bounded admiration. He seems to have shot up into a loftier growth, since
the shadow of Mr. Websters genius has been removed.
Apr. 1 3th.— This is a very pretty spot. The long meadows of the Hudson's
Bay Company stretch away towards Mount Hood very nicely skirted with
tufts of trees on the river bank and dotted with the company's herds of sheep.
Letters of Bradford Ripley Alden 203
cows & horses. ^^ The shadows of the clouds are peculiar in the way they
reach the ground and very striking— the shadow and the cloud answering to
each other as two ends of the long dusky cylinder of shade between. . . .
I am not sorry to leave here. I am run down and bored to death by the idle
jabbering of my good friends . . . they are too idle and too kind. My file of
receipts, my a/c book, my company affairs are most satisfactory. You would
like to peep in & see how I imitate you. Little things are often the points on
which a whole life hangs. ... I hear of no Indians to fight, any where out
here and am not sorry. If I were one of these idle young officers, however,
I think I should esteem an Indian war as preferable to the penitentiary of
army life. I pity the officers— they are not happy, and there are plenty of
occupations out of the army as honorable,^* such as superintending two or
three saw-mills on the Susquehanna, engaging in timber or coal, raising cattle
and wheat on your farm, taking Presidency or Treasury of an Insurance or
Rail-Road Comp'y— or of some college (even), making paper, glass or soap
(even),. expressing oil or dipping into a sugar refinery, making salt, ropes
or potash, powder, shot or guns, engaging in manufacture of white lead,
flour or cement, lime, blankets or books, newspapers, houses, gardening—
In truth I am carefully looking about at all these things, and do not despair
of my perseverance When out of the army I have my chance with other
citizens for appointment in the customs, mint, etc. etc. also, but this would
be no departure. ... I have made friends of two heads of the great express
companies of New York, and shall extend my acquaintance to gain as many
strings to my bow as possible. I see all the obstacles and difficulties clearly
and calmly and yet am firm in the conviction that I can succeed. . . .
I have been surprised at the delay of my good friend Brent, the Qr. Mas-
ter, in fitting out my forty mules, six wagons, 36 pack saddles, six citizen
teamsters, etc. etc. . . . We have news of the death of Lt. E. Russell of this
regiment.^^ He had a brush with Indians (so say the papers) He is known
in the regiment as a brave but reckless man. This happened south of my Fort
Jones about 50 miles, as far as I can learn. These Indian troubles it is sup-
posed here will be settled by the force which will be concentrated there, be-
fore I reach my post. There, I shall have a larger command than at any other
post in the regiment, viz., my company, two of dragoons, and perhaps one
other sup'y comp'y, but while the dragoons are out, escorting trains and
protecting the road, the Infantry is to remain at the post to make gardens
and keep the post in order!— This of itself would be sufficient to induce me
to resign, and as soon as things are quiet there in June, if you do not say nay
positively and absolutely, I propose to do so.
Apr. 14.— [Your letters of Mar. 2d and 3d] convince me that it is my plain
duty to give up this Army life— for your sake You need repose and peace
and the calm joy of a home. . . . San Francisco would not hold me a moment
with all its prospect of gold and fortune. . . . The longer I remain out here
204 California Historical Society Quarterly
the greater the chance of my becoming entangled in these fine-spun obhga-
tions of Army nets and refinements. . . .^^
Columbia Bks. Oregon
My dear Annie- Apr. 15th- 185 3
I have written my long letter directed to York [Pa.]— and now complete
the unfinished long letter to Cornwall. I have directed one also to Washing-
ton. I am so much concerned for your health, and so remorseful for my de-
clining to resign long ago, and using our common means for a career, that
I wish you to tell Genl. Scott that my resignation is in your hands. ... I care
nothing for the inglorious warfare with these poor Indians Please let me
know how my bank book stands with the bank of America. . . .
My next may possibly not reach you for a month, as the interior of Oregon
mails are irregular. . . . Continue directing to care of Asst. Adgt. Genl. [Ed-
ward D.] Townsend, at San Francisco, for "Fort Jones, Scotts valley, Cal."
Columbia Bks. Oregon
Apr. 2ist— 1853
Apr. 2 1 .—To-morrow at 1 1 I take up the march to California, thoroughly
equipped with six wagons drawn by six mules each and a herd of 60 under
charge of my Qr. M [aste]r. The preparations on the part of Brent, the Asst.
Qr. Mr., have been going on for a month, engrossing all his men and means,
apparently as completely as if my company were a little army. We expect
confidently to march to-morrow. ... It was by the last mail, sent from here
the 1 5th, that I sent you, dear Annie, my resignation, requesting you to have
it accepted and sent to Genl. Hitchcock [see note 2] immediately, and I feel
a stronger man since that moment . . . make no delay but have the acceptance
sent to Genl. Hitchcock, subject to his selection of time, depending on the
nature of the service, its importance etc. etc I would not leave San Fran-
cisco, however, until I knew that it was safe to cross the Isthmus. If I had to
remain at San F. a month or more, the time spent there would not be thrown
away. I could begin my career of business there, and might also form business
relations of the greatest value to me.
You do not know how unhappy these married officers are whose wives
are left in the East.^^ It is a cruel slavish life and they all feel it to be so, except
the old stagers— of ^^ and 60— whose hearts have become hardened and who
have gone so far into the stream that they consider it as well to keep on as to
go back. They are generally idle, longing and restless. I have many advan-
tages over them and especially in my faculty of keeping everlastingly em-
ployed. Books which of late years I have not held in so much esteem I confess
I begin to value again They all envy me my march, its stir and variety
My great release is occupation— constant occupation. Since I have begun
to keep my accounts and items of expense, I find it a pleasure, and the sight
of my bill-stickers is as good as a picture. Enter, my dear Annie, into occu-
Letters of Bradford Ripley Alden 205
pation, I beseech you . . . read and take notes. Notice, as Berkeley says, all of
God's thoughts in the world.^^ Every created thing is a thought of God . . .
perhaps above all, music, in which I hope I shall be interested, from my native
perseverance if I undertake it, stimulated as I shall be by love for you. I hope
you will practice on the piano^^ an hour a day for me, and enjoy every
chance of hearing music. . . . Remember too that you owe me the duty of
caring for your health— therefore throw other cares overboard. Ride, sing,
read, walk, admire and be absorbed in the little children. Use small dumbbells
twice a day, and never, never permit yourself to be anxious for me. I know
that God is above us and near us and disposes of us, altogether for the best
. . . cheerful and trustful confidence. Try it, once . . . give your heart to it . . .
repeat it twice (if it be not amiss, to make the comparison) do it with the
spirit and tone which enabled Percy to take the rhubarb, fixing his teeth,
clenching his little hand, planting his foot and while holding the bitter dose
saying slowly, ''Come on, my old rhubarb, I'll see if I can't take you."
I am not deceiving myself, dear Annie, with the fancy that only once with
you again all will be eternally right and easy. I know better. ... It will be
victory indeed the day I reach you again, but it is a common proverb in
military life that after a victory there is a world to be done— or the General
may loose his whole advantage, the efforts and labour of a whole campaign.
. . . Do not smile when I say that riding in the woods or alone in my room,
I throw off, often, a whole load of care and am miraculously relieved by
shouting out with full throat some terrible snatch of a hymn, chant or song.
All men have this reserve, I find— where ladies only sigh. Try it sometimes,
I beg you.
I cross the Columbia here and follow the Williamette [sic] river up be-
tween the Cascade and Coast range of mountains; then I cross the Umpqua
and Rogue rivers, the Siskiou [sic] mountains near the California line and
in forty miles I am at Fort Jones. ... It is unquestionably the most fertile
part of Oregon. . . . My English botanist [see note 7] is to join me at the
Umpqua with his books, specimens and his own old body. He is a great
wind-fall. The packers are travelling precisely this route every two weeks
to Yreka, 20 miles from my post, and the express man goes alone to Fort
Jones with our letters which reach here before you have heard of the change.
When you send these to Genl. Hitchcocks Asst. Adgt. Genl. as I mentioned
in my former letters, they will reach me by land from San Francisco. No
Indians are on the route and I suppose my company is to do police duty at
the post while the dragoons scour the country. Some six weeks after I reach
my post my resignation will, I hope, be accepted
Apr. 22.— The boat was not ready to-day but to-morrow we cross the
river. . . . This is a short letter but I may have a chance of sending you an-
other on the march. I intended to write to Percy and Sarah but must be con-
tent now with but a few words. The other day the ground near us (8 miles)
2o6 California Historical Society Quarterly
was covered with a yellowish sand thrown, it is supposed, from Mt. St.
Helens which is volcanic.^^ Last night I heard when out, at lo o'clock, a little
cry like the complaining of a strong baby and found it came from the com-
panys little bear cub which had been put out in an outhouse and was crying
sharply to be let in to the warm room. So it seems that little bears feel neglect
as well as little children. The soldiers opened their theatre two nights since
and played very well, so well that once all the women near me were sobbing
piteously. . . .
Apr. 23.— We are off in an hour. My friends are all with me to bid good-
bye. With worlds of love
Near Oregon City
My dear Annie— P* ^^
For these four days since I left Columbia Bks. . . . from dawn of day until
sunset I have been on my feet or on horseback. Every hour has been full of
excitement and absorbing interest. The little emergencies of every moment
have compelled all old anxieties to silence. . . . On the 23d we crossed my six
wagons, forty mules, three horses and my fifty men and baggage over the
Columbia river, killed a fine buck and enjoyed the first camp fire and fare,
three miles from the ferry. The 24th being Sunday we gained but six miles,
and encamped at two P.M. The experience of these parts of two days gave
us worlds of mending, re-arranging, reconnoitring, etc. for that day. The
25th was full of mud-holes, ruts, short turns, bogging of mules and the break-
ing of an iron axle. We commenced packing some of the mules that day—
a variety amusing to the men, reminding them of the Isthmus. We reached
camp at sunset the 25th. When I and Lt. [Jos. W.] Collins rode ahead three
miles to examine the road, which I had sent him to reconnoitre two days
before our departure from the Bks., we found a bridge had been swept away,
and returned to camp at 8 Yz P.M. very hungry but not at all fatigued. Supper
and sleep were real luxuries. This morning, half an hour before sunrise, I left
camp with a party of seven men with axes, augers, etc. and reaching the ruins
of the bridge, my men fell to work with cross-cut saw, spades, axes, etc. with
a zest, good- will and intelligence that was worth witnessing. Eight men more
came up at 10 A.M. and at 12 M. our bridge was completed and the first
teams, let down the bank by drag ropes, crossed. In an hour all crossed, and
then climbing a hill 250 feet high we camped near the Falls of the William-
ette [sic], in sight of Oregon city at 4 P.M. The bridge building was as ex-
citing as a fox chase and the crossing of the six wagons, with six mules each,
every loaded wagon requiring thirty men to assist, was quite intense. . . .
Here we broke another wagon which will be repaired by six A.M. to-
morrow. My Lieut, and Qr. Mr. Collins is very knowing about wagons,
mules, etc. ... a good mud and water soldier. His wife will join us in five
days.
I hoped to have time to write to-day but visitors from the town have inter-
Letters of Bradford Ripley Alden 207
rupted me until now, past nine o'clock. It is quite cold and I am full of regret
that I have been kept from my journal. This march , . . has everything that
I could wish for, exercise of the most varied kind, enough fatigue only to
make sleep sweet, to settle my mind and to brace up my body, nerves and
mind to a key that might even compare with a tour in Europe. This of course
is partly the contrast with the weary life of the Bks., but partly because I
really like the stir of a march and the healthy exercise that makes the per-
spiration start from every pore. The complete success of all my plans and
contrivances in every little emergency is another element.
The first day out the little bear followed the men and whined and com-
plained constantly at being occasionally made to walk. The next morning
the poor little soul was found dead. ... A mule kicked one of the men badly
in the mans heel and to-day a man cut his heel with an axe. I sent for a
physician and was surprised that he would take no fee. . . .
Marysville [present-day Corvallis], Oregon
My dear Annie— X 3 53
... I camped at this town on the Williamette last evening, having made
only 100 miles in nine days march, further than every one supposed we
could gain in that time. It has been a constant excitement, full of responsi-
bility, exercise, magnificent scenery, early rising and freedom from fearful
anxieties. Indeed I have had so many difficulties to overcome and so much
pressing practical work to do, that the present of every hour has been
enough for itself. Certainly I have never seen more charming landscapes in
any quarter, even Italy and England, than on my route. I could not convey
an impression of their peculiar beauty. Your letters by the last mail are to
reach me to-morrow. . . . There are 300 miles yet to march to Fort Jones
and full of interest and novelty. My Lieut, is a trump . . . and his wife ... a
good cook. We take up our marching very soon, changing here the plan of
transportation and packing forty mules. The men are active, obedient and
interested and if you had not to suffer, I think the adventure and experience
of this march would repay (almost) my journey to this land. . . .
I am as brown as a hazel nut and endure fatigue and labour beyond my
expectation entirely. By the time I reach Fort Jones I shall be a new man.
I am firm in my satisfaction with my resignation entrusted to your hands.
. . . The weather has been showery and the roads muddy and boggy. I write
in a store in this town, full of people buying bacon, oysters, powder, leggins,
ale, lead, whisky, pack saddles, etc. and I fear that I interrupt the keeper of
the store and have to close this short dispatch, much to my annoyance. A
steel pen is as hard for me to drive as a plough would be. Tell Percy we
caught a little live snipe and found a kildees nest with three eggs. The squir-
rels are nearly as large as our rabbits. I sleep on the ground and rise before
2o8 California Historical Society Quarterly
sunrise. . . . Tell him I have met several little boys older than he who cannot
spell a single word and want to learn
My dear Annie— ^ ~^ 53
I encamped yesterday evening 150 miles south of Ft. Vancouver and 10
miles north of the California mountains. This is Sunday, and if all had been
perfectly smooth I should have stopped to rest for Sunday but yesterday
we had two wagons broken and would have been compelled to remain here
until they were mended. The march continues as exciting and as full of re-
sponsibility as at the first:— the most beautiful scenes imaginable, constant
exercise of mind and body, excellent appetite, no fatigue and the most con-
fiding and hopeful thoughts of you and the little children. I am up always
at or before sunrise and from that moment until the days march ends, about
4 P.M., I am on the qui vive, looking ahead. No sooner have the wagons
emerged from one desperate quagmire than a mile or two ahead another is
to be apprehended; then a bridge is to be built, then a desperate, sliding hill
is to be crossed, sometimes requiring forty men at the wheels and pulling on
strong ropes, crossing the wagons and stretching on the upper side of the
road to prevent the wagons from upsetting. For two days I was in the mud
up to my knees and bespattered with mud and water from top to toe. For
three days of the march it rained day and night. I was wet all the time during
the day but never was better in health.
It is now my 1 6th day of marching and such rude and laborious exercise
for so many days at a stretch I have never experienced in my life, and to my
surprise not an ache or weary feeling in bone or limb have I felt for one
moment. But this blessing I confess had become almost necessary, for the
routine of dull life and stagnation at Vancouver had become really hard to
bear. . . .
My lieutenants wife and her soldier cook the meals and we eat in my tent.
Yesterday I shot a California pigeon, a large bird with a white ring round
the neck and a dusky grouse. The grouse was a cock and tho' out of season
was good for the table. The rest on Sunday is a blessed relief for all, men
and women and cattle. I enjoyed it greatly from 5 until 9 this morning, when
I found that the pork which I had packed on ten mules was wasting so much
in the sun that I had to make new arrangements to preserve it, and then a
bridge three miles ahead was broken down by a wagon which passed over
yesterday.^^ So at one o'clock I started off with ten men and spent three
hours in repairing the bridge. This was necessary, however. We had no
quagmires to plump into and no travel and the animals spent the day in lux-
ury in the grass.
Great are our experiences with the pack train, and various the devices to
make it work well. My arms are growing stronger, my hair thicker, my
health fresher and my hopes better. I wish I had a warmer place to write in,
Letters of Bradford Ripley Aid en 209
and I might say so much more and could tell Percy that we saw several
yellow spiders to-day, how the grove at our encampment last night looked
like one of God's blessed churches, how beautiful my pony looks, and how
affectionate he is, how hard-hearted the people out here are where they have
had no church for 18 months, of the two young deer we saw yesterday and
of the cranes and wild geese that fly high over our heads as the clouds, etc.
etc. But I forgot to say that to-morrow promises to bring your letters which
reached Vancouver a week after I left— blessed anticipation. . . .
Winchester, Oregon
My dear Annie— ^ '^ -^^
I reached the ferry over the North Umpqua river last evening and in spite
of the trout and the delicious strawberries and the charming landscape and
the stir of the blood from the movements of the march, I would sacrifice
them all and much more if the express agent would only quicken his pace
and bring me those blessed letters of yours, brought to Vancouver two
weeks since. I am somewhat consoled, however, with the prospect of his
coming along in three days, bringing two mails together. The breaking of
our wagons, the frequent disappearing of our mules in the morning, the
steep hills on hills that we cannot escape climbing, and the deep swampy
holes that are equally unavoidable, have retarded the march so much that,
altho' some days I have gained 15-16 miles, yet the average has been but 10
miles a day.^^ They are not however 10 sluggish miles. The stoppages are
generally of such a character as to call forth all our energy and invention and
then when the obstacle is crossed we often have quite smooth going for
many miles, my horse full of spirit to dash forward, the Germans lightening
the way with good rich singing and all quite happy. Certainly I never have
seen a more beautiful country, and I have imbibed enough of late to last me,
I trow, for a life-time. The prairies are sprinkled with fragrant old-fashioned
johnny jumpups, and the pink in its native soil, and the sloping hill sides are
yellow, purple and crimson in broad acres of flowers. The verdure is as rich
as England— and all so rich and soft that I was not surprised to learn that it
was too beautiful to last, for before June has passed the drought has set in,
and in July the grass is all gray as dried hay. The drought is the great draw-
back.
We met with plenty of strawberries three days since at Applegates on Elk
Creek. 2^ The people are rude as rude can be, tho' very shrewd and inde-
pendent. I have been amused at their consummate cunning in making a bar-
gain. I assure you I have not time for dreaming. The day is full of practical
work and the evening has to be spent in providing for the contingencies of
the next morning.
The first annoyance I had the 12th when five men deserted at night.^*
Nothing has been heard of them yet but I have made such dispositions to
2 1 o California Historical Society Quarterly
apprehend them that I do not despair of picking up one or two of them yet.
I should not be surprised however if half of the remaining forty should de-
sert before I reach my mountain. But as this would be no fault of mine it
would not give me great concern. As I approach California, accounts of
Scotts valley become more and more flattering. The Applegates say it is a
beautiful plateau and wonderful for grazing; the snow mountains [Mt.
Shasta, 14,161 ft.] in view far surpass Mount Hood [ 1 1,225 ft.] ^^^ Mt- St.
Helens [10,000 ft.]. Frost is seen nearly every morning in summer and the
health of the valley undoubted.
A man in this country must overcome his neighbors or he will be over-
come. An officer of the army is expected to be lordly and somewhat domi-
neering. Reserve and independence were quite characteristic both in Cali-
fornia and Oregon. My health continues vigorous and excellent. My muscles
are like leather, all superfluous flesh has disappeared, and in my California
hat, overboots and mustachios I venture to say you would not know your
petulant and uncomfortable husband of last year. There are no Indians on
my track and before the cold of September begins in my valley I pray that
my resignation may be completed In about twenty days I expect to finish
the march.
Fort Jones,^^ Scotts valley, Cal.
My dear Annie— ^^ ^^
This day at 10 A.M. I reached my post in this secluded valley, and better
far than reaching the place where I am Commandant I touched your sweet
letter of March [ ? ] brought to San Francisco by Mr. Trowbridge. There is
a treasury of your letters in the possession of Adam & Co.'s express [see note
9] which I expect the 3d of June— better than many a gold mine, for would
you believe it, since the i oth of April I had not seen a letter of yours until my
arrival here this day! The post offices and expresses are in combination, it
seems, and between them they have failed to bring me a single letter from
Vancouver for these 40 days. You may imagine my vexation and even dis-
tress, but extreme as my trouble was, this letter of yours in answer to mine
from San Francisco of Feb. 9th has made me light-hearted as a boy to-day,
and now I am bright with hope again for the 3d of June for those on the
way in Oregon and those that I expect direct from San Francisco.
. . . Before I left Vancouver I made the closest arrangements with the ex-
press company for the forwarding of your letters to me, and on my march
I met with an agent going from Yreka to Vancouver and in person made the
most positive engagements with him to have them sent after me. He took my
watch with him to Vancouver for a new crystal, and yet up to this time
neither watch nor letter has appeared. The agent at Yreka assures me that
such delays sometimes occur by reason of changes in the plans of the com-
pany, but that, though delayed, the packages never fail at last to come to
their address. Tho' these delays have given me the greatest uneasiness, they
Letters of Bradford Ripley Aid en 2 1 1
have given me a rich harvest to reap, when the 3d of June arrives, in 4 days.
My march was made in 37 days (three days less than I had laid out for
when I left Vancouver) . It was full of interesting incidents & experiences
and it seems to me that I have had a view of all the scenery that the world
affords in every variety— mountains and valleys, deserts and flowery prairies,
high mountains brilliant with snow one day, and the next over ranges of
volcanic hills as desert as the regions of Arabia in the times of Job and Moses.
For two days we were encamped on a trout stream where we picked up
specks of gold from the shore and gathered delicious strawberries on the
bank. The wolf and the rattlesnake have crossed our paths and yesterday, for
the first time, I met the grizzly bear.^^ It was not dangerous— a hunter had
him cut up, packed on his horse, covered by his shaggy skin. He had killed
him but two miles from my camp— but I have too many things to say that
I have to forego to say more of bears & wolves.
Yreka turned out its enterprising population yesterday to see the Captain
from Vancouver and his company march through the town. They were as
serious and respectful as the good people that you saw at the inauguration.
. . . My reception here by the officers of the two dragoon companies of
this post was of that character of mingled deference and affection that I
have so often met with and which certainly is always very pleasant. I am to
assume command to-morrow of my post and valley and all promises as fair
as I could imagine. Pardon, dear Annie, this rapid and most unsatisfactory
note. I am not full of leisure to-day, believe me, and it is only by a sort of
chance that I learn there is an opportunity by which I may possibly get this
to you by the steamer of the 7th.
Well and in good hope. ... I may possibly be able to write again sending
you a map, diary etc
Everything comes here by pack trains at 20^ a pound from Shasta City.
It is perfectly healthy but I might be ordered to a very unhealthy region,
therefore I am bent on your accepting my resignation. I am to be stationed
here quite permanently. We are about 30 miles from Oregon and 100 from
the sea on Scotts river.
We are five days by express from San Francisco. Butter is $2 a pound, eggs
$33 dozen, hams $53 piece, potatoes $153 bushel and everything else in
proportion.
It is a shut in valley surrounded by mountains of snow. Two miles distant
from a neck of land we see Mount Shasta or Shasta Butte, as they call it— the
noblest snow mountain my eyes ever beheld. I send a little flower.
I have two dragoon companies who are to scout while I remain to dig
wells, make quarters, etc.
Fort Jones, Scotts valley
My dear Annie— *^ "" 53
My rapid and unsatisfactory note of yesterday is waiting three miles from
2 1 2 California Historical Society Quarterly
here for the express, whose day is changed for one day later, giving me a few
hours more to venture a few words more. . . . On my march I am surprised
to discover now how little I wrote in the way of journal. The main military
incidents, the distance travelled, the creeks, the prairies, ferries, fords, moun-
tains, sloughs etc. I noted in my main book every day, but writing was al-
most out of the question. Cold evenings, constant occupation and oversight
for the present and for the next day, constantly occurring difficulties and
emergencies to be met at once gave me no opportunity or convenience. I
never read a book but the Bible and that not very often. The march of the
children of Israel to the promised land certainly became endowed with a
new light and interest, their forty years and my forty days had many more
points of resemblance than you would imagine— Syria and Palestine and
Arabia were spread before me daily. So much for imagination.
... I had in charge a herd of 60 mules to keep note of. Six wagons drawn
by 36 mules to keep an eye to and some 50 men to instruct, take care of,
watch etc. and in spite of watching eight deserted on the route beyond re-
covery, but the remaining 40 are wonderfully (or as [? ] would say, marvel-
lously) well behaved. At the canyon I found that I had to abandon my
wagons and pack everything on mules. Here then was a theatre for invention
on which we did not fail to rehearse our parts well before we exhibited our
train through the canyon. So one day with 50 mules packed, with muskets,
camp kettles, axes, spades, tents, hard bread, pork, saws, trunks, boxes, sacks
of clothing, flour, sugar, coffee and all we entered the mouth of the canyon,
Saturday the 21st.
My fifer, a young Irishman mounted on a trotting mule, led the train. I
rode up to the head when they were a mile in the pass and found Desmond,
the boy fifer, in great distress. Leading the train, as he did, he supposed that
he was responsible for all that would befall all that followed. "Och, Captain,"
he cried, "shure we'll niver git these craturs through this place" . . . before
we had got half a mile further I found that he was more than half right and
that we could not get thro' before night. I therefore ordered a retreat and
back we went to camp.
Next day we tried again bright and early, and threaded the defile of 1 2
miles without any serious trouble. . . . This famous canyon or pass, thro'
which in the Umpqua mountains all the travel has to go from the Columbia
river to California, is about 80 miles from the California line, north.
On my arrival at this Post I found written instructions from Col. Wright,^^
comd'g the district, directing me to send an exploring party to the sea— to
Paragon Bay— to endeavor to discover a better pack trail route for supplying
the post and also I am to dispatch the two companies of dragoons the ist of
July, 60 miles east near Klamath and Rhett Lake, to protect emigrants com-
ing in this year.^® Meanwhile my men are to build a hospital, store room.
Letters of Bradford Ripley Alden 2 1 3
quarters etc. We are therefore to be very peaceably employed and again the
Fates deprive me of the glories of war, and I am perfectly content.
I visited the scene of Kearny's fight with the Rogue River Indians on my
march and the spot where poor Jimmy Stuart was killed and buried. Nobody
it seems is killed by Indians here without some improvident exposure. So it
was last March with Lt. [Edmund] Russell of my Regiment, and so with
Stuart. 2^ My dragoon officers are [Charles Henry] Ogle & [Thomas Foster]
Castor, [Richard Carlton Walker] Radford & [Isaiah N.] Moore. Capt.
Gardner [John Wm. Tudor Gardiner] is expected soon. Nothing could
surpass their affectionate deference & respect, and nothing shall occur on
my part to give them reason to change. The dragoons are helter skelter, sure
enough. Altho' in a well-watered valley, all the water for washing & drinking
is packed in kegs on mules a mile. There is not a washing tub within 16 miles,
not a pane of glass in any room at the post, and floors are of quite hard
ground. A cat costs here and at Yreka (16 miles north east) six dollars, and
a hen $5.00. A tin box (ordinary size) of blacking is one dollar, & so on to
the end. A common broom is one dollar, etc. While I write my sergeant
comes to report that there is no yeast in the country, and that there is but
one small ten-gallon keg to pack the water and no vessel to keep it at the
comp'y camp. I have managed however to supply him with another keg, and
to-day sent to Yreka for a half barrel as washing tub. I am glad, after all,
really glad you sent the daguerreotypes, but where are they? No news of
'em yet. . . .
Fort Jones, Scotts valley, Cal.
Tin J •/• June 6th— 18^^
My dearest wife— *^ -^ -^
Yesterday the precious letters of March 25th and Apr. 5th came from
Vancouver to bless me in this valley. I am full of work and papers and have
not a moment to say a word more. I pray that those notes from Fort Roger
Jones (as I suppose it was intended to be called) [see not 25] may reach you
safely. In a few days I shall have leisure to explore the ravines, gold bars of
this New Switzerland.^^ I received the certificate of deposit for $3000 and
shall endeavor not to make a bad use of it. Please let the cashier know of the
receipt.
I am here in a new land and life is in its elements. The young people slip
along very easily, and it rests with me to supply first, absolutely. Bread, and
water, then a kettle to boil meat, next a kettle to boil clothes, to wash, then
a tub scooped out of cedar, then a trough for bread out of the cedar. Provi-
dentially there is a brewery in Yreka,^^ and hops and yeast; and providen-
tially it would seem, from the late frosts of this high region (perhaps 4000
feet above the sea), we are not too late to plant potatoes, tomatoes, onions
& cabbage. Money is here 8, 9, 10 per cent a month; potatoes I22 a bushel;
1.
I
2 14 California Historical Society Quarterly
butter $2.00 a pound. This country groans for the observance of the Lord's
day Surely I never saw & felt its Divinity as I have here. . . .
Yreka, Cal.
My dear Annie— J 9 ~ 53
... I am here to day to arrange for the exploration I am to send to Paragon
Bay, and find myself distrusting every man who talks fair. My experience
will make me wary enough.
My valley is sixteen miles from this thriving town, and a beautiful healthy
valley as there is in the world. So high are we above the sea that to-morrow
I purchase one bushel of potatoes at $24.00 to plant, and plant corn, tomatoes
etc. to-morrow—
I have written you three letters from my post since June ist and now ven-
ture this note because it is the 9th of June, my day of days [their wedding
anniversary]
In excellent health and spirits and full of hope and love
P.S.— Were it not for the dreadful absence— both for you and me— when
I resign, by nine months delay in this land I might double any money I had—
Fort Jones, Scotts valley, Cal.
\M J A • June 16—1893
My dear Annie— -^ -^
The 14th brought an order from Col. Wright to despatch 25 of my dra-
goons to Benicia for Williamson's escort in his Railroad Exploration.^^ I have
got them off this morning and one man remains to carry despatches. The
same order put me in command of "Fort Jones and its dependencies." Never
in West Point busiest times have I had busier times than here. Every thing to
be done and nothing to do it with— boats to be built (three), garden dug,
fenced, planted; floors laid, roofs covered, etc. etc. Absolutely I have had
no time either for quiet or for moodiness, and it is a good thing for me. God
be thanked for it. Your letter of May 5th came unexpectedly the 1 3th, giving
me great pleasure. . . . How anxious I should have been had I known of your
weeks confinement in bed. As for a tooth less, I know— such is the witchery
of the very air around you— that I shall only like you the better. . . . The
other night, at 1 2 o'clock, a tramp and scratch at my door was followed by
a call— The Captain— I felt for my revolver in the spur of the moment, and
laughed when the man halloed out— Express for Captain Alden. Odd enough
if I had fired a bullet into one of your letters, so precious to me!
Tell Percy I found a lark's nest with beautiful eggs and a gentle little lark
near my quarters. A kanjaroo mouse, who had gnawed a hole in my grey
light overcoat when he panted in the cats clutches, was an odd creature. My
horse is the most gallant and noble fellow this winding valley has ever known.
The Chinese appealed to me to-day for protection against three Indians
who robbed them.^^ A gallop of 1 5 miles in this valley is nothing, and my
Letters of Bradford Ripley Alden 2 1 5
health was never better. For three days past the thermometer has been at 90
in the shade but by adopting your mode of keeping the room dark I am per-
fectly cool. I have to act the Genl. Jackson out here.^* It is the only way.
Fortunately I know my strength and never make mistakes where reason and
principle are concerned.
Julia Bayard's red and blue slippers are the brightest and most ornamental
objects in my room. They take every body's eyes and are really valuable.
My things are arranged with excellent order and I am surprised at the com-
fort and excellence of order. Our fare is as simple almost as Daniel's in the
Bible— rice & beans, bread, milk, butter & Spanish beef, with dried peaches
and occasional onions.^^ This is all we have and all we want. . . .
My dear little Sarah must remember that her dear father will be sorry to
hear that she squeals like a cat. I love the children dearly and will tell them
soon of my cat and the squirrels here, the busy woodpecker who digs holes
in the pine trees and fills them up with acorns; of the storm of hail and the
rumbling we hear in the mountains when the snow breaks down from the
tops.
How unsatisfactory this seems to me, but I write as it were in a battlefield
—pack trains unloading, dragoons just tramped off, letters, requisitions on
Col. Wright to get ofT etc
Fort Jones, Cal.
, - J A • June 21st— 18^^
My dear Annie— ■'^
This is the first really quiet day I have had for you since my arrival here.
It is true. I have plenty of . . . letters to write and responsibilities peeping out
every day, and to-day and to-morrow have their share, but when I finish up
the duties of the day it is all done and I may rest for a great part of the next
without the incubus of behind work to be hanging on my shoulders. Yours
of the 2d May came also, with power enough to brace me up for any weight.
And the news has come from Genl. Hitchcock that Henry Scott is Inspector
General.^^ What praise and thanksgiving I should render to God for the
bright hopes this event has for me. I am already preparing— to myself— to
turn over my command of this valley and its dependencies to my next in
command, and with great joy. I who six months since considered myself so
unfortunate in being projected, as it were, out of the world into blackness
and the regions of chaos, am looked upon here as the most fortunate of men.
Plenty of officers are out in this Godless land, long and far from wives &
children— poor and helpless and with no hopes of release but in political in-
trigue.^^ It is sad enough, and I long to do some thing for them, but am
powerless
Fort Jones, Scotts valley, Cal.
My dear Annie— "^ ^^
In the midst of many public papers I sent you a letter the 2 2d or 23d— in
2 1 6 California Historical Society Quarterly
great hopes of the appointment of Henry Scott. Genl. Hitchcock had spe-
cially informed our young Dr. [Charles Henry] Crane of Henry S's appoint-
ment and I was quite sure of it, indeed calmly and soberly sure, but yesterday
brought the Baltimore Sun with the distinct announcement of Col. [Joseph
King Fenno] Mansfield's^^ promotion to the place, but to my surprise I was
not at all overwhelmed by the news
Your last was of May 2d— and now two (of the 1 2th and 19th) must be on
the way from San Francisco I send two expresses a month to Ft. Reading
on the Sacramento River, 120 miles south, on a pack train over Scotts and
Trinity mountains, an adventurous road to those who do not dismount in
descending the steep places. All of our provisions are packed on this trail, at
an express of 20 cents for every pound. In four days the two soldiers get
down, and in four return. I suppose that Mason's^^ influence with the Cabinet
and Jefferson Davis' were strong enough to defeat Henry Scott & to advance
an expediency man like Col. M. My young officers would much have pre-
ferred Henry Scott. They are mainly for him, and for Genl. Scott against
the world. It would not however derogate in the least from their good opin-
ion of the General if I were to mention what you say of his scrambling for
place. They think indeed (as Col Freeman did about my light-house offer) *^
that a man would be considered a goose who would not "take all he could
get." Delicacy in putting forth a long arm to help yourself is not the first
thing men of the world think of, and the more I see of it (although it tends
to allay somewhat of my sensitiveness) the more, thank God, am I resolved
to maintain my own consistency, delicacy and whatever God has gifted me
with, of unlikeness to greediness and selfishness. At the same time I trust . . .
never to be fantastic and fanatic on this head and never to make my wife and
children suffer for mere imaginary scruples etc. etc. . . . Let me express a
doubt whether Genl. Scott did wrong in making application for Henry
Scott. I would not have done it perhaps, but of those who would condemn
him, let me assure you, there is not one out of a score of them who would
not have done just as he did.
What easy mortals the younger officers I meet seem to be— nothing
troubles them. They sit in the shade, smoking & chatting until they feel a
little weary, and then they stretch themselves out for a quiet sleep. News-
papers are a great treat. How their breasts swell as they discuss the opera and
the last fancy ball in San Francisco. They like the Home Journal*^ right well
and are much obliged to N. T. Willis (puffy as he is) for the pretty covers
he picks up for them and serves up so regularly, and yet, as they like me, I
cannot help liking them especially as I see some of them reading their Bible
on Sunday and generally standing up for some religion. What I say of them
I am far from saying complainingly.
On Sunday in Yreka some 2000 miners congregate to trade at the stores
and many to drink and carouse. They have lately established a little paper,*^
as big as my two hands. The other day, as I was thinking— What could I do
Letters of Bradford Ripley Alden 1 1 7
to instruct these people of the error and folly they are pursuing— a knock at
my door brought in a gentleman of the place with a special request that I
should deliver the oration on the 4th of July. He prefaced his message by
saying that a "desire was growing up for something better, for improvement
in morals & for better organization of society," and the principal men of the
town thought it would be a good beginning to select the principal man in the
county to make the 4th of July the occasion of breaking ground in favor of
order, law, morals and religion and therefore they earnestly requested that
the com'd'g officer at the military post, Capt. Alden, should address the
citizens. Well, I had three days to deliberate and under the circumstances it
was impossible to decline. So in eight days, in the open air, to 3000 bold men,
I_even I— who am neither Moses nor Aaron, am to raise my voice and I am
not at all afraid and good may come to them and good consequence to me.
Thank God I am in good health and voice. . . . Perhaps this will be a good
time to let out the crowding images and sonorous phrases which, thumping
in my brain, I so often let out in conversation, not so very aptly as mild and
timid people may have thought, but which uttered in the open air on a
raised rostrum, loud in the ears of 3000 bold men, may produce the effect of
a statue which is large and rough when seen near at hand but when raised on
a high pedestal in the air is all proper and fair.
Yesterday, riding to see the English botanist [see note 7], in the cool of
the evening, a dusky grouse with her twelve well grown younglings whirred
up from the roadside, and I could describe the pleasant surprise they gave me
in terms that might seem extravagant to one who has not the game blood in
his veins. Mr. Jeffries said, "You are of the same temperament as a namesake,
[undecipherable] Farquharson Alden of Marly hall, who lives on his ances-
tral estate and hall— 400 years old— in Perthshire, Scotland, and is the greatest
grouse man in the shire." Grouse smitten as I am, I would not have ruffled
a feather of one of those young grouselings for a sight of Mr. Farquharson
Alden's old hall and the freedom of his moors for a week, for I thought of
our little younglings at home, and it must have been the same feeling that led
me to make my men liberate a young coyote wolf that they had with a string
round his neck yesterday, worrying with the dogs. Yesterday, also, my cor-
poral brought in three young wild ducks. They staid overnight but in the
morning, lo, they had found a way to escape.
I have not suffered from hot weather a moment in this country tho' the
thermometer yesterday was at 90— to-day we have fires and a little rain. My
radishes, beets, turnips, pumpkins, melons, pepper and water cress, planted
8 days since, are up and flourishing. I find the altitude of this healthy valley
above the sea is 2700— about the height of Catskill mountain house. I send a
few sprigs of little flowers, the gentian and the "crane bill geranium," called
from the crook in the stem. This valley was called formerly by Hudson bay
people— Beaver valley & the river beaver river.*^ Beavers are plenty and only
two years since 2000 were trapped here.
2 1 8 California Historical Society Quarterly
The quarters for my company are not yet built, and I am sent here to build
quarters, hospital, & company store-room. In my room of 1 8 feet square are
piled up four boxes of my comp'y clothing, and on the other side 1 5 muskets
and 1 5 cartridge-boxes line the wall. Five seats of pine & cedar logs, sawed
off 16 inches long and placed on end, form 5 seats worthy of one of Homers
interiors.^* Of a solid cedar tree, 2 feet long & set on end, is my standing table
made. My sitting table is very nicely covered with my Chilean blanket of a
sort of worsted and my mahogany gun case, presented to me at Vancouver,
with brass mountings, shines like the well-burnished plates in an old Dutch
kitchen. The gun case is opposite my seat and its contents are that perfect
little whisk my wife gave me, the large hair brush— her gift, paper of pins,
box of matches, tooth brush, razors, gloves, thread, strings wound on paper,
a few bullets, a box of percussion caps, a spring vice, a screw driver, a micro-
scope, letter stamp, a wedge of solder for tin, a punch to make holes, half
dozen sailors needles, an almanack, half a dozen papers of tartaric acid, tape,
buttons, a little gimlet, and the little pocket copy of Napoleon's maxims*^—
and all in their own compartments.
The experience of command of a post is not a little thing. I like it abso-
lutely, and it is a good excellent school . . . and the respect and affection of
the young officers is not a little thing. They seem (I fancy) surprised to find
me a man of more than "two ideas'' . . . enterprising, practical, etc. etc. They
had poor water packed on mules— the new commander has dug a big well
30 feet deep. They had no bread baked— the new commander found out a
baker, got hops and yeast, had dough troughs, etc. etc. made the 3d day, and
now we have good bread. They had no floors— he sent to the saw mill 1 2
miles off and purchased boards at $80 a thousand feet. Their fresh beef
spoiled and they had a hole dug in the ground to make bad worse. Now the
beef is hung up in the air and keeps three days. They had no post fund— and
will have one next month, and five other "had nots" I could add from which
the "not" is taken away. All this I say without the least boasting, for any
common army man might & would have done the same thing, but it is a good
experience Percy would be delighted to see the herd of a hundred horses
and fifty mules driven up every day to the corral, or pen, and the colt he
would prefer. The young coyote looked for all the world like the fox I used
to tell him a fable of, coming to visit the cat— pricked ears, cunning nose and
bushy tail. We have a finch that sings sweetly at night, called by the Hudson
bay people the nightingale.*^ To-morrow I propose shooting four and
twenty blackbirds to bake in a pie. But I have my hands full with writing the
oration, no time for more
Fort Jones, Scotts valley, Cal.
My dearest Annie— J 77 53
This almost white sheet will have to tell the story of my health and good
hope. My undertaking, under Providence, of the speech to the bold men &
Letters of Bradford Ripley Alden 219
few women of Yreka was not a small one and for many a night drove me
into & past midnight. I am satisfied with the result, entirely. . . . Odd and
amusing incidents occurred at the speech which I cannot now tell. . . . Ten
of my men have deserted since Vancouver and ten more will go. . . . Send no
more money. I have but little time for money— here. . . . Please write to my
mother on receipt of this. I am as ready to resign as ever.
[Separate sheet— no date, no superscription] You would have smiled at
the Pickwickian procession in Yreka the day of my speech, all as grave as
judges with their drums and fife, flag, scarfs, marshall, etc. In a circle before
me sat like so many Scythians 100 miners with rifles, and when the declara-
tion was read they rose, stepped two paces forward, poked up their guns
and fired a feu de joie. We were announced to the 1500 people with a con-
trast, thus— 'The man who is to read the declaration is John Van Wyck,"
but when I had to be presented it was, "The gentleman who is to address
you." I was cheered amply and all went off with order and gravity unprece-
dented.*^ The speech began thus:
"Friends and fellow citizens.— On this triumphal day in our national cal-
endar, when we convene in virtue of the good custom of the land, our hearts
beating the drum that calls us together, to pay the great day its honor due,
I confess it is with no little beating of my heart that I could persuade myself
to take the responsible post assigned to me, to march up & encounter the
duties, the honors, the expectations with which I am confronted (and so
on) —
"On the first day of the new year when friend meets friend they exchange
happy greetings, wishing health and happiness for the 1 2 month that is to
follow, and now, on this first day of our national year, it is reason good for
gratitude to God that to all inquiring, from any quarter, touching the health,
welfare and promise of our happy land, we can cheerfully answer— All is
well. And it is right and fitting that with all our hearts we should offer here
the honest, old-fashioned greeting, 'Forever, God save the Commonwealth.' "
This took famously. I will not bore you with more of it. Let it suffice that
people said it was not flowery but was solid and sensible.
At last we learn that Henry Scott is not the Inspector General [see note
36]. . . .
Fort Jones, Scotts valley,
Siskiyou County, Cal.
My dearest wife— J 79 53
. . . Everything is manly out here even to the wolf that walks up now and
then to my tent door, and his pack that howl wildly every night from the
hill. My garden, the well, the supply of wood and forage, the contracts for
beef, the improvement in the bread, the care of the packs of pork, the horse-
shoeing of 60 horses and herding in the valley of the ninety mules, the char-
2 20 Calif OTjjia Historical Society Quarterly
coal for the blacksmith shop, and tar making for the boats, the long corre-
spondence with Col. Wright (comd'g the district) and his leaving every-
thing to my judgment, the building of quarters, selection of different pines
and cedars for shingles & clapboards, the preparations for sending the dra-
goons on the Oregon emigrant trail [see note 28], the settlement of points
of duty and expenditure, the deserting of my men (ten since I left Vancou-
ver), the rides of thirty miles a day, the speech to the miners of Yreka— and
the insight I gain of men & affairs, are all manly doings
July 1 1.— The express has been detained, and your ist of June letter which
reached San F. 1 1 days since, is promised to-morrow. . . . Odd enough it
seems to me out here I have been compelled to be my own clerk as I have no
writer in my company. Such quantities of writing I never had to do in my
life and it has forced me to tie up and label and endorse my files in the most
systematic way, and it does not annoy me. There is something certainly con-
genial to me in this air, for I am infinitely better than I was at Vancouver.
This valley and all this northern California is as healthy as England. You
cannot imagine a purer air. The valley is but 3 or 4 miles wide, tho' south of
us it widens in one beautiful place to 8 or ten. The solid mountains rise like
a rim with indented lines, 2 to 4000 feet above us and are yet tipped with
snow. It is all natural-looking, healthy and beautiful. My men are deserting
so fast that in a months time I may not have more than a dozen left, but it is
the way every where out here, and as I am not in fault it gives me no more
concern. While they receive but $7.00 pr. month, common men like them
receive I50 to I70 pr. month. The temptation is more than they can stand.
Any old notions I may formerly have had of governing men by great kind-
ness and delicacy is fast dying away. Let this suffice for the days of my
youth, but now that I am older. Christian justice and sobriety are better than
mere generosity. Men must be commanded and what element of command
is in me has been more developed in this mission to Cal. & Oregon than ever
before When the dragoons leave (to-morrow) I shall be almost a solitary
lord of this valley. The physical effect of this pure high air is surprising on
me— my hair is blacker, my flesh harder, my legs stronger, and my equanim-
ity a surprise to myself. Such calm quiet strength seems part of another
nature than mine. I am not thin but am free from all rotundity of face and
body, and almost tremble lest this condition of brain & nerve may not con-
tinue. My men require full ten times more watching than officers generally
give and I am eternally writing, superintending the gardens, the well, the
hospital, the store house, the officers quarters, the shingling parties, the
wagon repairs, etc. etc. but never annoying the men, for this I have to avoid,
or they would all, every mothers son of them, desert. I never fuss but walk
about as dignifiedly as Mr. [undecipherable] ever did, keeping an eye to a
thousand things that must be attended to.
Lt. Radford is a sort of Simon Buckner, a narrow, foolish Virginian, with
Letters of Bradford Ripley Alden 1 1 1
little information but honest."*^ Dr. Crane is intelligent, manly and gentle-
manly. Lt. Castor is a second Capt. Swarthout [Henry Swartwout], with
something of Dick Smith's laziness, and Ogle is quiet as an Indian.*^ I could
not wish to be on better terms with men than I am with them. My orderly
sergeant is a young man of 24 and perhaps the best man at the Post. I would
not wish a better. . . .
Fort Jones, Cal.
, - J . . Auff. ist— 189:5
My dearest Annie— ° •" -^
I wrote last from Ft. Reading the 24th July, and returned to my Ft. Jones
the 27th with Paymaster [Hiram] Leonard. He has been my guest until
to-day and altho' he has taken up a good deal of my time he has contributed
to make it quite agreeable. . . . Do not suppose that the anxiety you evince
touching the important change in our life that I am meditating is misunder-
stood by me. It would indeed be strange if you were not deeply anxious. . . .
Civil life cannot well be worse than our prospects in army life. . . . Are we
to hang on the skirts of Genl Scott or when he passes away seek some new
patron to protect us or even begin to seek the favor of men in power with
a little more delicacy, perhaps, but with the same mere personal ends that
control the thoughts and conduct of people whom you and I cannot re-
spect? ^°
Suppose that I had boldly . . . resigned in 1 849 and visited San Francisco
for a year. Why I5000 then invested would have now been worth $200,000
or even half a million. And three years from to-day, if then living in the
army, limping along propped up by the army as a lame man by a crutch,
I would doubtless lament that I had not thrown the crutch away and served
the time and the hour that Providence seemed distinctly to mark out in this
active stirring land. I take distinctly into consideration, my dear Annie, all
the difficulties, all my want of familiarity with business, all apprehensions
that I may not succeed to my wishes, and view it in a plain, painstaking way.
I perceive too very clearly that I cannot expect to succeed without making
the undertaking I engage in the paramount interest and instinct of every
day. If you could bear it I would enter San Francisco as soon as possible, say
in September or October, and with our funds commence operations, pro-
posing to get my initiation there at least. Every body knows here that the
possession of $10,000 or $15,000 is every thing to begin with. I might visit
Oregon for three weeks and see Gov. Stevens about his coal mine.^^ If I could
endure it— and you could— 18 months absence would promise much better
success, but such an exile I would not endure for any thing short of life and
death. The army is worse than you think it and I have a strong desire to
leave it. . . .
When shall we sit side by side to study German, Spanish, spiders, grass,
botany, bees and all the creatures of God? The command of this post and
of my two dragoon companies on the trail is no sinecure By perseverance
2 2 2 California Historical Society Quarterly
at last it is gratifying indeed very gratifying to have succeeded. I hope it will
require as much time to succeed in business. . . . Let Genl. Scott know that
I am bent on resigning and urge it. ... I send Percy the little scratch of my
mensq[uarte]rs.
Fort Jones
My dear Annie— °* ^^
I sent to-day by Maj. Leonard a letter full of the one idea that engrosses
our common thoughts. ... I began to apprehend that you might become too
anxious in your apprehensions of civil life. Therefore for a while brush them
aside and cultivate a few days of trust in me. I may yet be your sunlight. . . .
Expenses are very great here. I am to have a Chinese for servant, cook and
washerman at $35 pr. month. I never ate as little in my life tho' I have a good
appetite. In truth I must have been eating too much all my life long. Many
people in this country live for months on bread & butter, milk, rice and tea
and it is not bad fare.
The salmon are past the season tho' the Indians are continually endeav-
oring to sell them. Yesterday half a dozen new faces came with salmon—
and strange faces they were, their chins and cheeks tattoed black [sic] as if
a handkerchief was wrapped around their cheeks, steeped in blue ink. . . .^^
To-morrow when my papers are off, and copies are labelled and filed away,
I must commence my journal again.
Aug. 3d.— The morning has come cool and bracing, so fresh I changed my
thin for my thick flannels. ... I have just sent 16 miles to Yreka for a physi-
cian for one of my sick people— the fee to be $30, paid by the govt. I sent also
for quinine, iodide of potassium, the Chinese cook, matches, shot, powder,
vegetables, letters, tea, etc. etc The fresh morning air brings fresh, sound
thoughts and to-day it seems insane to allow apprehensions of bad success
to cast one shadow. With $25000 of our money or half of it, with the zest,
the impulse and the ambition I feel to make a home for my dear wife and
children, I have no unsound fears.
Believe me when I say that never until my service at this post of now two
months, have I had so practical a conviction and impression engraved, as it
were, of the value of plain, every day business habits. They are manly,
honest, & Christian, and any shuffling off of these plain duties is unmanly
and, as proof of it (though it is one of my weaknesses and prejudices— and
we all have some prejudices— simply to dislike), I confess that his [the busi-
ness man's] system, precision, and absorbing matter of fact business ways,
compel me to yield him a certain degree of respect, as far as these habits of
his are efficient and to be valued.
We are here without a surgeon and perhaps to remain without one for six
weeks, but thank God, I am well, with every promise of remaining so, and
since the well furnishes good pure water, my men are getting over their
slight attacks. Never was a land peopled and settled as this country is, with-
Letters of Bradford Ripley Alden 223
out any apparent grace of God. Every thing is conducted in a spirit of
rapacity and plunder— the very earth is cultivated in a spirit of plunder. No
church, no baptism . . . but curses are the idioms of the country. No women,
no little children— what blighted fruits are to grow from such planting. God
only knows. If our blessed church is to be planted here it must develop what
germs it has in new forms. It must come with sisters of charity, hospitals,
brotherhood of men. Bishop Potters,^^ new order of deacons and evangelists.
... It is emergencies like these that, under God, develop the hidden strength
of the church, and out of the best parts of the high church movement^* may
be found the very forms to conquer in this region. The express dashes up,
and I must end instanter. . . .
Yreka Cal.
Dear Annie— ^' ^^
I am here to-day on a scout, bound for Jacksonville Oregon with eleven
of my men.
The people insist on my coming there to aid in protecting them from the
Indians. I shall meet Capt. A. J, Smith's company of dragoons there, from
the coast, and with the good citizens of the valley shall doubtless make all
safe there.*^^
Let me urge you still as before to push my resignation. Tell the General
it is my deliberate desire and intention— admits of no question.
I have to keep my Irishmen straight. The expedition will do them good.
My health is wonderfully strong. I did not know I was so strong. All is clear
and quiet before me as this bright sky.
I write in the express office and have no more time to say a word of the
world of love and affection in my heart. All love to the little children. . . .
Jacksonville, Oregon
My dear Annie— ^' ^^
Here I am with hands full. Appointed Colonel commanding in this war
against the Rogue River Indians with 200 rifle-men under my command and
such a stir as you never saw. Have I time to write? Indeed I have not— I am
in wonderful health and strength . . . calm and strong as if all were quiet and
calm as our household.
Thank God for enabling me to meet this emergency—
Dont believe any rumors that you see in the papers. God strengthen me—
and it may all blow over and the Indians I apprehend will run off when we
approach them. Trust in the same God who brought me thro' the yellow
fever. Write to my mother. . . .
Jacksonville, Oregon
My dear Annie— &• > 3
No battle yet and no promise of an engagement. The Indians have re-
2 24 California Historical Society Quarterly
treated to the mountains and may confine their depredations to attacks of
trains on the road. There is no teUing, however, what the issue will be. As
soon as the volunteers take it into their heads to go home, the Indians will
come back again.
... I am now getting impatient that I have not been able to get in reach
of the sound at least of whizzing bullets.
Not a moment to say a word more. . . . Please write to my mother.
(Duplicate. Another sent by mail) Jacksonville, Oregon
My dear Mrs. A. ^^ ^^^ ^ ^ 53
I write you but a line to say that the newspaper account that Capt. Alden
has been dangerously wounded in a battle with the Indians is false.^^ He has
received a flesh wound in the shoulder and there is every prospect of his
speedy recovery, although it will lay him up for several weeks. His conduct
in battle was heroic & brilliant & the theme of general admiration, as are his
labors in organizing the war in this vicinity. I am most happy to send you
this contradiction of the newspaper accounts. I have given you more par-
ticulars in another letter.
This I enclose to Major To wnsend at San Francisco requesting him to send
it by the very first opportunity of steamer (other than the mail) which may
occur. Capt. A. is in good hands & has the kindest attention.
Very truly your friend and obt. servt.
Ben J. Alvord
(To be concluded)
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The Society is greatly indebted to Mr. and Mrs. Roger Alden Derby of New York
for the privilege of publishing Captain Alden's letters. Before his death on June first of
this year, Mr. Derby undertook the task of making typewritten copies of the letters,
without which the editors could not feel the assurance they now have of the accuracy
of the present transcription. Mr. Derby's mother was the "Sarah" of the letters.
NOTES
I. Gen. Joseph Lane's report from "Headquarters, Camp Alden, Rogue River, O.T.,"
to Bvt. Brig. Gen. Ethan A. Hitchcock, may be found in 33d Cong., ist sess.. Sen. Ex.
Doc. I (hereinafter called Ser. No. 691), pp. 37-41. It is followed (pp. 41-43) by Captain
B. R. Alden's report from Yreka, California, to the adjutant general of the army. Lane
said of Alden: "At the request of Col. Alden and the troops I assumed command of the
forces. . . . Too much praise cannot be awarded to Col. Alden; the country is greatly
indebted to him for the rapid organization of the forces, when it was entirely without
Letters of Bradford Ripley Alden 225
defense; his gallantry is sufficiently attested by his being dangerously wounded . . . almost
at the enemy's lines." Of Lane, Alden said: "The thorough knowledge of the country
which he displayed, the gallantry and skill which he exhibited . . . satisfied me perfectly
that I had acted for the good of the country in relinguishing the command of the volun-
teers to him." The Shasta Courier of Sept. 17, 1853, quoted the Mountain Herald of Sept.
10 as follows: "Gen. Lane expresses a determination to pitch into them [the Indians], if
thev do not comply with the stipulations of the treaty." For Indian disturbances in the
Yreka area, 1854-55, see Alex. J. Rosborough, "A. M. Rosborough, Special Indian Agent,"
this Quarterly, Sept. 1947, pp. 201-207.
2. Gen. Ethan A. Hitchcock, Fifty Years in Camp and Field, edited by W. A. Croffut
(New York, 1909), pp. 381 fF., wrote in his diary on Dec. 4, 185 1: "This looks serious. . . .
I have repeatedly asked for more troops." On the preceding May 15, his diary entry was:
"Am ready for California. . . ." Hitchcock was in command of the Pacific division (Ore-
gon and California) from July 9, 1851, until May 21, 1854. When the hostilities broke out
at Rogue River (where, he notes in his entry for Aug. 25, 1851, "I must establish a post
. . . ") in the summer of 1853, he was "immersed in philosophy," according to Croffut
(ibid., p. 399). In this connection, George W. Cullum, Biographical Register of Officers
and Graduates of the U. S. Military Academy (Boston & New York, 1891), I, No. 177,
pp. 167-79, speaks of Hitchcock as a student of Spinoza and Swedenborg. However, the
need for reinforcements in disciplining the Indians at that time was not neglected by
the engrossed "student," for the Daily Aha California of Aug. 29, 1853, reported that
Benicia was to send sixty men to Fort Reading for action in the north.
3. Cullum, op. cit., I, No. 653 (pp. 488-91).
4. Winfield Scott, who was born near Petersburgh, Va., on June 13, 1786, became
commander-in-chief of the U. S. army on July 5, 1841, and continued in that office until
Nov. I, 1 86 1. For an outline of his military career, see List of Officers of the Army of
the U. S. from I'jig to igoo, compiled by Col. William H. Powell (New York, 1900), p.
578. Captain Alden was executor of the general's estate upon the latter's death on May
29, 1866.
5. "Fort Vancouver has every requisite for the principal garrison and depot, and centre
of all military concerns of the department for a long time," according to Secretary of
War George W. Crawford, in his report dated March 28, 1850. (31st Cong., ist sess.. Sen.
Doc. 47, Ser. No. 558, p. 105.) "There are buildings sufficient for all the stores of the
quartermaster's, commissary's, and ordnance departments, for barracks for the men, for
hospitals, and, with some additions, for officers' quarters and stables." On pp. 103-105, is
a discussion of U. S. rights of possession of the Hudson's Bay property under the treaty
of 1846. Fort Vancouver was erected by John McLoughlin, of the Hudson's Bay Co., in
1824-25.
6. Benjamin L. E. Bonneville (b. 1793; d. June 12, 1878) graduated from West Point on
Dec. II, 1815, and some ten years later accompanied the Marquis de Lafayette when he
returned to France after his sojourn in America during 1824-25. An account of Bonne-
ville's career may be found in Cullum, op. cit., I, No. 155 (pp. 144-50). This will amplify
the reader's probable familiarity with the colonel's journal, as "digested" by Washington
Irving in The Rocky Mountains; or, Scenes, Incidents and Adventures in the Far West
(Philadelphia, 1837). The glacial lake, now extinct, which once covered present-day
northwest Utah, was named after him.
7. John Jeffrey (b. Scotland, Nov. 14, 1826; d. Colorado Desert [?], 1854 [?]) was the
first to discover Finns albicaulis which he found on Sept. 23, 1851, near Fort Hope in
British Columbia. In the fall of 1852, as collector for the Oregon Botanical Assoc, of
Edinburgh, he discovered Finus Balfouriana (foxtail pine) in the mountains between
Scott's and Shasta valleys; Finus ponderosa, var. Jeffrey Vasey (Jeffrey pine) in Shasta
2 26 Calif ornia Historical Society Quarterly
Valley; also, Pinus Murray ana (tamrac pine) in the Siskiyou mountains; and, while in
southern Oregon, Quercus Sadleriana, or deer oak. (W. L. Jcpson, Silva of Calif ornia,
Berkeley, 1910, pp. 74, 76, 81, 82, 219-20.) Jeffrey left San Francisco in the spring of 1854
for Fort Yuma. For biographical sketch, see Edinburgh Royal Botanic Garden, Notes,
XX, No. 96 (July 1939), 1-53. Alden's mention of Jeffrey in the spring of 1853 is of
interest.
8. In Quartermaster General Th. S. Jessup's annual report for 1853, occurs a passage
which explains why it was that Captain Alden had had to buy his own furniture for Fort
Vancouver: "The officers of the army cannot perceive the justice of allowing furniture
to navy and marine officers and denying it to them. . . . They do not expect to be sump-
tuously quartered; but they have a right to expect that comfortable buildings be pro-
vided for them and their commands at the posts they are compelled to occupy." (Ser.
No. 691 [see note i above], p. 132.)
9. The report of the postmaster general dated Dec. i, 1853, in 33d Cong., ist sess., Sen.
Doc. I (Ser. No. 692) , p. 705, explains that the high prices prevailing in California affected
adversely the mail facilities the government was able to provide in that area. The miner's
settlement is "suddenly made and rapidly extended long before the mail contractor and
post master can be provided. The expressmen are at hand, and the wants of the miner are
immediate." The mails in the west posed an old problem. Three years before, in March
1850, Secretary of War Crawford (op. cit., [note 5 above], p. 107) said that there was
no regular mail to Oregon; the company "which contracted to bring it from Panama have
never sent a boat beyond San Francisco. . . ." Advertisements of express companies in
the Shasta Courier of July 9, 1853, include: Cram, Rogers & Co.'s Weaverville Express,
connecting at Shasta with Adams & Co.; Rhodes & Lusk's Shasta Express; Hall & Cran-
dalPs U. S. Mail Line from Shasta to Marysville and Sacramento City; Edwards, Sanford
& Co.'s Great European Express, Agents for Adams & Co.— "Our Atlantic states' express
leaves San Francisco Four Times per month by the Pacific Mail Steamship Company's
steamers." By 1854, ^^^ postmaster general was able to report that contracts had been
entered into for transportation of mail between Panama and Oregon. (33d Cong,, 2d sess..
Sen. Doc. i, Ser. No. 747, pp. 628-30.) A recent study of one of the best-known express
companies is Ruth Teiser's and Catherine Harroun's "Origin of Wells Fargo and Com-
pany," in the Bulletin of the Business Historical Society for June 1948. See also note 61
below.
ID. Benjamin Alvord (b. Aug. 18, 181 3; d. Oct. 16, 1884), soldier and author, graduated
from West Point July i, 1833. He was stationed at Fort Dalles, Oregon, in 1852-53, and
in 1853-54 was engaged in constructing a military road through southern Oregon. There-
after until July 7, 1862, he was chief paymaster for the department of Oregon. An espe-
cially interesting biographical account of Alvord appears in Cullum, op. cit., I, No. 728
(pp. 553-58), with a list of his writings; among them is, "Winter Grazing in the Rocky
Mountains."
11. Bloomers reached San Francisco in 1851, according to Julia Cooley Altrocchi,
"Paradox Town," this Quarterly, XXVIII (March 1949), 40-41.
12. In Dec. 1852, while serving as President Fillmore's secretary of state upon the
death of Daniel Webster, Edward Everett wrote a rejection to the proposal of France
and England that the U. S. should join with them in a tripartite convention guaranteeing
Cuba to Spain. Everett stated that, because of its proximity, the U. S. had a special interest
in Cuba. Everett's letter may be found in 3 2d Cong., 2d sess.. Sen. Ex. Doc. 13 (Ser. No.
660), pp. 15-23.
13. George Simpson in his Narrative of a Journey Round the World during the Years
1841 and 1S42 (London, 1847), I, 247, spoke of "fifteen hundred sheep, and between four
and five hundred head of cattle" at the Fort Vancouver establishment in the fall of 1841;
Letters of Bradford Ripley Aid en 227
and Charles Wilkes, U.S.N., Narrative of the United States Exploring Expedition . . .
1838 . . . 1842 (Philadelphia, 1850), IV, 334, said that the "large herds of cattle feeding
and reposing under the trees, gave an air of civilization to the scene, that is the only thing
wanting in the other parts of the territory. . . ." There were about 3000 head of cattle,
2500 sheep, and about 300 brood mares on the premises at that time.
14. Secretary of War Jefferson Davis in his report dated Dec. i, 1853 (Ser. No. 691,
p. 11), commenting on the need for attaining efficiency among the personnel of an army,
said that they "should be intelligent and capable; but it is idle to hope that men of this
character can be obtained unless their pay bear a fair proportion to that which they
would receive in the corresponding employments of civil life. . . ."
15. First Lieut. Edmund Russell was killed on March 24, 1853, in a skirmish with In-
dians near Red Bluff, California. (Francis B. Heitman, Historical Register and Diction-
ary of the U. S. Army, 1^89-190^, Washington, 1903, 1, 852.)
16. Davis, loc. cit., gave it as his opinion that: "The hope of advancement is the foun-
dation of professional zeal and success, and this incentive should exist in the army as well
as in civil life." See also note 37 below.
17. Davis's report (op. cit., p. 17) called attention to the fact that: "The pay of officers
of the army was established many years ago, when the value of money was much greater
than at this time. What was then only a reasonable and just compensation is now entirely
inadequate." With increase in pay would come, presumably, the ability to transport the
women of their families. Jessup, the quartermaster general (op. cit., pp. 1 30-3 1 ) suggested
compensations in the way of repairs at several posts throughout the territories, improve-
ments that would be indispensable to the health and comfort of the troops. The next
year (Dec. 4, 1854) ^^^ pay-increase idea had to be re-stated by the secretary of war, Mr.
Davis: "I think it but an act of justice to the officers of the army again to call attention
to the recommendation made in my last annual report, relative to an increase of their
pay." (33d Cong., 2d sess., Sen. Ex. Doc. i, Ser. No. 747, pp. 8-9.) The quartermaster
general, reporting on Nov. 14, 1854, said that "extensive repairs" had been made at Benicia
and other posts on the Pacific. (Ibid., p. 73.) Captain Alden's refuge in the reading of
books was, aside from any personal bent he may have had, part of the plan in educating
the cadets at West Point, Davis (Ser. No. 691, p. 15) saying that the interests of the
service demanded a "knowledge of international law, of language, and of literature."
18. In 1733, George Berkeley, Bishop of Cloyne, wrote Alciphron, or the Minute
Philosopher, in the form of a dialogue, in which he advanced the view that all nature
represents the language of God.
19. The piano had many admirers among the husbands of the mid-1850's, as a means
of edifying and entertaining their wives. Cf. "William Davis Merry Howard," by his
granddaughter, Gertrude Howard Whitwell, in this Quarterly, XXVII (Dec. 1948),
325, 326, 328. Eighteen hundred and fifty-three, in fact, marked the death of Jonas Chick-
ering of Boston, and was the year in which Heinrich Engelhard Steinway and his four
sons established their firm in New York.
20. J. C. Fremont, Report of the Exploring Expedition . . .to Oregon and North Cali-
fornia in the Years 1843-44 (Washington, 1845), pp. 193-94, entry for Nov. 13, 1843, said:
". . . at this time, two of the great snowy cones. Mount Regnier [sic] and St. Helens, were
in action. On the 23d of the preceding November [1842], St. Helens had scattered its
ashes, like a light fall of snow, over the Dalles of the Columbia, 50 miles distant. A speci-
men of these ashes was given to me by Mr. Brewer, one of the clergymen at the Dalles."
For a resume of such phenomena along the western rim of the continent, see J. F. Diller,
"Latest Volcanic Eruptions of the Pacific Coast," Science, IX (n.s.), No. 277 (May 5,
1899), pp. 639-40.
21. Wilkes, op. cit., V, p. 224, says that the land party, previous to ascending the Elk
2 2 8 California Historical Society Quarterly
Mountains, "had crossed several small streams over which the Hudson [sic] Bay Com-
pany had constructed bridges for the passage of their sheep."
22. The same author mentions {loc. cit.) the swampy country at this point: ". . . much
trouble was caused by the necessity of dragging a number of their [the land party's]
pack-horses with lassos from a miry pool into which they had plunged." Mention is also
made of the serpentine character of the route and the obstruction caused by fallen tim-
ber, "many of whose trunks were four and five feet in diameter." Traveling in the oppo-
site direction a decade earlier, John Work summed up their crossing of the Umpqua
Mountains as follows: "This was a hard day both on horses and people particularly the
sick. . . ." (Alice B. Maloney, Fur Brigade to the Bonaventura, this Society, Sp. Publ. 19,
1935. PP- 79-80 ff.)
23. Jesse and Charles Applegate settled on Elk Creek; Lindsay Applegate, on Ashland
Creek. (H. H. Bancroft, History of Oregon, San Francisco, 1886-88, I, 568-69.) The
"Messrs. Applegate" appeared to Fremont (op. cit., p. 191) to possess "intelligence and
character, moral and intellectual stamina, as well as enterprise. . . ." For a reprinting of
Jesse Applegate's report on Oregon, written two years before Alden's march, and show-
ing similar delight in the wild flowers, see Oregon Hist. Soc. Quarterly, XXXII (June
1931), pp. 135-44.
24. Since the end of the Mexican War the average loss by desertion was said to be 16%
of the actual strength of the U. S. army of 10,417 men (authorized strength at Dec. i,
1853, was 13,821). A part of the percentage of the desertions was attributed to "the ex-
citement on account of the discovery of gold in California, the excess from that cause,
in one year alone, being over 530 over the average of the three succeeding years." (Davis,
Ser. No. 691, p. 7.)
25. Fort Jones, originally (1851) Wheelock's trading station, was variously called until
i860 when it adopted the name of the military post established here in 1852. (Bancroft,
History of California, San Francisco, 1884-90, VI, 495.) Roger Jones, from Virginia, who
was made a major general in May 1848 for meritorious conduct during the Mexican War,
had died on July 15 of the year the post was established (1852). His military record is
given by Heitman, op. cit., I, 582. The date, April 23, 1853, on the plaque at Fort Jones,
purporting to give the time of the garrisoning of the fort by Company E, should be
changed to May 31, as Captain Alden's letters show.
26. Wilkes, op. cit., V, 229, 230, speaks of the grizzly as having been seen by the land
party in the fall of 1841: "On the Umpqua, the first grizzly bears were seen. . . ."
27. George Wright was in command of the northern district of California from Sept.
17, 1852, to May 19, 1855, with headquarters at Fort Reading. (CuUum, op. cit., I, No.
309.)
28. The Shasta Courier, July 9, 1853, in its column entitled From Yreka, said: "We are
informed that the two companies of ist Dragoons, under the command of Lieut. Radford
will leave Fort Jones, Scott Valley, for Tula and Goose Lakes, on the emigrant Road
between this and Humboldt River, to protect the emigrants on the wo haw navigation
from the depredations of the Indians, on that part of the route." (See Philip Ashton
Rollins, editor. The Discovery of the Oregon Trail, Robert Stuarfs Narrative . . ., New
York and London, 1935, for a first-hand account of the overland journey eastward from
Astoria in 181 2-1 3.) Present-day Tule Lake appears on the map accompanying Fremont's
Geographical Memoir Upon Upper California . . . (Washington, 1849) as Rhett Lake,
and McCrady River is represented as flowing into it from the north. Both of these names
(Rhett and McCrady) are listed without initials in Bancroft's version of the membership
of Fremont's company in 1845. (California, op. cit., IV, 583, n. 26.) Paragon Bay is the
old name for the bight on which Crescent City stands. Bancroft, op. cit., VI, 504-505,
says that the vessel Paragon met with disaster there in 1850; but Owen C. Coy, The Hum-
Letters of Bradford Ripley Alden 229
boldt Bay Region, i8)0-i8'js (Los Angeles, 1929), p. 44, omits this detail. As to the cap-
tain's problem of discovering "a better pack trail" between this bay (Paragon) and Fort
Jones, the San Francisco Herald, June 16, 1853, was in sympathy with the idea: "Crescent
City is, not only by the present trail (which in the opinion of the packers may be con-
siderably shortened) but also geographically, the point on the coast nearest to Yreka,
Jacksonville, Althouse. . . ."
29. James Stuart's death occurred on June 18, 1851, from wounds received in action
against Indians near Rogue River, Oregon; Edmund Russell's, on March 24, 1853, in a
similar encounter near Red Bluff, California. (Heitman, op. cit,, I, 933; ibid., p. 852.) See
also Bancroft's Oregon, II, 225 ff., for description of this warfare. Mention of the part
played by Maj. Phihp Kearny (Bancroft spells it Kearney) in 1851 is made in ibid., pp.
81 and 225 ff. See also Oregon Spectator Index, 1846-18^4 (Portland, 1941), II, 287.
30. The Shasta Courier, Sept. 24, 1853, under From Yreka, states: "The mining intelli-
gence generally is very encouraging. On the South Fork of Scott river those working
the mines are especially successful. The population of this section of the mines has greatly
increased." Mining and other experiences, 1851-1855, in this area are told in "Hiram Gano
Ferris of Illinois and California," edited by Joel E Ferris, this Quarterly, Dec. 1947, pp.
298-307.
31. For the benefit of his later (and unexpected) readers, one wishes that the captain
had told his wife the name of the Yreka brewery from which he secured yeast for the
Fort Jones baker. In the Yreka Union for Oct. 26, 1861, the City Brewery advertises itself
as a "Vinegar manufactory"; and on Feb. 15, 1862, "Vinegar, From the Siskiyou Brew-
ery" is exalted.
32. For Lieut. R. S. Williamson's report on his surveys for a railroad from the Missis-
sippi River to the Pacific (in which he shows the impracticability of Walker's Pass for
such a purpose), see Ser. No. 691, pp. 21 ff. It will be remembered that negotiations with
Mexico for the Gadsden Purchase were concluded on Dec. 30 of that year (1853), to
facilitate the southern railroad route.
33. The presence of Chinese in numbers in this general area may be judged from the
advertisements appearing in the Shasta Courier. For example, on Aug. 27, 1853, Church
& Mix hsted for sale 5,000 lbs. No. i China sugar and the same quantity of No. i China
rice.
34. Thomas Jonathan ("Stonewall") Jackson (1824-1863), West Point graduate and,
later. Confederate officer, was staunchly religious and had, by instinct, an impressive
gravity of manner. He was professor of natural and experimental philosophy as well as
instructor of artillery at the Virginia MiHtary Institute from 1851 to 1861. (CuUum, op.
nf., II, No. 1288.)
35. Of the seven-point fare here enumerated, Daniel and his three companions would
have partaken only of the pulse varieties— peas or beans— and water. {Book of Daniel, I,
12.)
36. As will appear shortly in the letters, Henry L. Scott did not become inspector
general of the army at this time. Not until May 14, 1861, did that honor come to him.
(Cullum, op. cit., I, No. 747.) As a reminder of then-contemporary affairs, the bombard-
ment of Fort Sumter began on April 12, 1861.
. 37. To counteract this tendency, Jefferson Davis's report recommended that the
army's "honors and distinctions should be open to all, that they may incite the ambition
and stimulate the zeal of all." (Davis, op. cit., p. 1 1. See also note 50, below.)
38. Before receiving the appointment as inspector general of the army on May 28, 1853,
J. K. F. Mansfield (b. Dec. 22, 1803; d. Sept. 18, 1862) had been serving on the board of
engineers for the Atlantic and Pacific coast defenses. The honor was awarded because
230 California Historical Society Quarterly
Secretary of War Davis "had witnessed his great services in Mexico." (Cullum, op. cit.,
No. 287, pp. 276-78.)
39. The reference here is to James Murray Mason (i 798-1 871) who, as U. S. senator
from Virginia, 1847-61, was influential in Washington politics. With John Slidell, he
figured in the "Trent affair," both of them being taken from that British ship in Oct.
1 86 1 by Captain Wilkes of the U. S. navy and thus prevented, for the time, from inter-
ceding for the Confederacy in Europe.
40. Nothing beyond this more or less casual remark of the captain's could be found
on the subject of a light-house "offer."
41. The Home Journal, a weekly, was pubhshed between 1846 and 1901, as an out-
growth of the New York Mirror, and was made up of society news, gossip, and light
essays. N. T. Willis was editor until 1867. In 1901, it became Town and Country, and,
as such, was bought by W. R. Hearst in 1925.
42. The Mountain Herald made its first appearance on June 11, 1853. In the spring of
1855 the name was changed to Yreka Union. (Douglas C. McMurtrie, editor, A History
of California Newspapers . . ., New York, 1927, pp. 224-25.)
43. Wilkes, op. cit., p. 235, says of this stream, "In the afternoon, they [the land party]
encamped on Beaver creek, so named by Lieutenant Emmons, from the number of those
animals that were seen engaged in building dams."
44. The comment here on the extreme simplicity of Fort Jones's furnishings as being
comparable to one of Homer's interiors might be questioned by those who remember
the "fair table, polished well . . ." and the "shining chair," mentioned in Book XI, lines
614 ff, in Andrew Lang's translation of Homer's Iliad. It is doubtful whether cedar was
in use: laurel, myrtle, poplar, cypress, oak, chestnut, but hardly cedar. The reference to
Homer would not apply in this case to Winslow Homer, who did not win his reputation
for genre painting until much later. In 1853 he was only seventeen years old.
45. The volume in the captain's kit was probably Napoleon I, Maximes de Guerre,
id edition, Bruxelles, 1837 (Bibliotheque portative de I'officier).
46. Nightingale, genus Daulias; finch, genus Fringilla. But a male bird essaying song at
night tempts his ardent hearers to jump the confines of genera. Thus, the "Virginia
nightingale" is a cardinal; and the "Persian nightingale" turns out to be a bulbul.
47. The Shasta Courier of July 23, 1853, reporting this occasion, commented as follows:
"From Yreka.— The Herald says the Fourth was celebrated by the citizens of Yreka, in
a style which far surpassed any thing of the kind that ever came off in that part of the
country. The Declaration of Independence was read by H. D. Van Wyck, and an elo-
quent oration delivered by Capt. Alden, U.S.A.; after which the company repaired to
the Yreka Hotel and partook of a most sumptuous dinner. . . . The Herald's correspond-
ent from Scott's Bar says: The 4th passed off very quietly, considering the quantity of
liquor drank. In fact we had but eighteen fights during the day."
48. Captain Alden, a dozen or so years older than Simon B. Buckner (b. Kentucky,
1823), was commandant of cadets at West Point when Buckner was teaching geography,
history, and ethics there in 1845-46; and again in 1848-50 as assistant instructor of infantry
tactics, after the close of the Mexican War in which Buckner served under Gen. Win-
field Scott. For information about his military life, see Heitman, op. cit., I, 259.
49. In Captain Alden's letter of June ist (where their full names are given), Ogle,
Castor, and Radford are spoken of as his "dragoon officers." Captain Swartwout had died
the year before (July i, 1852), at Fort Meade, Fla., from wounds received in hostilities
against the Seminole Indians. Dr. Crane was referred to in the letter of June 26.
50. The year after the captain wrote this to his wife, Jefferson Davis, in his report to
the second session of the 33d Congress (Ser. No. 747, pp. 9-10, 17), said: ". . . many un-
seemly controversies have arisen, engendering jealousy, rancor, and insubordination . . .
Letters of Bradford Ripley Alden 2 3 1
so numerous and contradictory have been the decisions of the highest authority on ques-
tions of rank that no executive regulation or judgment of a court-martial could now
establish any certain rule. . . . Congress only can apply the remedy. . . ."
51. Regarding coal discoveries at Coos Bay in 1853, near Empire City and North Bend,
see Bancroft, Oregon, op. cit., II, 332 and 743.
52. Capt. (Bvt. Maj.) H. W. Wessells, reporting on Nov. 14, 1851 (as commander of
the escort provided for the Indian agent) to Bvt. Lt. Col. J. Hooker, assist.-adj. general.
Pacific division, said: "The Klamath and Trinity Indians with few exceptions, came
freely into camp, bringing their women and children, and exhibiting an appearance of
open, cheerful frankness ... all are tattoed with three lines of deep blue, from the comers
of the mouth and center of the upper lip, reaching below the chin, these lines being nar-
row in childhood, and widened as they advance in years." (34th Cong., 3d sess.. House
Ex. Doc. 76, Ser. No. 906, pp. 64 and 65.)
53. There were three Episcopal bishops Potter: Alonzo (1800-65), bishop of Penn-
sylvania; his brother, Horatio (1802-87), bishop of New York; and Alonzo's son, Henry
Codman Potter, who succeeded his uncle upon the latter's death, and in whose adminis-
tration the corner-stone of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine was laid ( 1892) . All three
were active in social betterment— Negro aid, city mission work, working-men's clubs, day
nurseries, kindergartens, and were not bound by denominational lines.
54. The Right Rev. William Ingraham Kip wrote in his book, The Early Days of My
Episcopate (New York), p. 3, that when his candidacy to serve as missionary bishop of
California was being discussed in 1853, some of the bishops were "afraid my churchman-
ship was rather too elevated in its character. . . ." However, he was selected for that office,
and four years later he became bishop.
55. Joseph Lane, op. cit., p. 40, mentions Capt. Andrew Jackson Smith, first dragoons,
as having arrived at camp with his troops from Port Orford, and, while peace was being
made, he and his troops "served to over-awe the Indians."
$6. Newspaper items, appearing in the Shasta Courier, ran as follows: Aug. 20, 1853—
"A correspondent of the Herald, writing from Jacksonville on the 13th says:— There is
now over 300 men mustered into the service under the command of Capt. Alden, of the
U.S.A., who is appointed Colonel commanding, assisted by Col. John Ross."
The Courier of Aug. 27 quoting the Mountain Herald of Aug. 20: "The whole force
of our army is now on the Indian trail, and it is supposed they will have a severe battle
in a few days."
From the Courier of Sept. 3: "We are indebted to the Mountain Herald [of Aug. 27]
for the particular of another battle fought between the whites and Indians of Rogue
River Valley. The account is furnished that paper by Mr. Dugan [see note 60 below]
through Cram, Rogers & Co.'s Express:— . . . Col. B. R. Alden is said to be mortally
wounded; the ball entered his neck and came out under his arm. General Lane was also
wounded in the shoulder, slightly— The battle lasted four hours, at the end of which time
Chief Sam proposed an armistice, which was granted; and both armies agreed to meet
at Table Rock to-morrow, to have a wa-iva. . . . General Lane and Colonel Alden were
wounded while making a charge. . . . Still Later— . . . intelligence that Col. Alden was
yet alive, although in an extremely critical condition. He was shot with a half ounce ball
while stooping behind a log just in the act of firing at an Indian. The ball entered his
neck near the jugular vein and came out just below the arm on the opposite side of his
body, inflicting a ghastly wound of sufficient size to enable a man to thrust two fingers
into it. . . . Some of Sam's Indians packed Col. Alden some sixty miles from the battle
ground, and within twelve miles of Jacksonville, where he now lies."
Shasta Courier of Sept. 10, quoting the correspondent of the Herald of Sept. 3, who
was "writing from Jacksonville on the 29th." The correspondent related that ". . . Col.
232 California Historical Society Quarterly
B. R. Alden and some of the other men wounded in the last battle, reached town yester-
day. The Colonel is doing well and in fine spirits, and I am happy to learn that his wound
is not considered dangerous. . . . We understand that the company of Clicatat Indians,
expected for some days, had arrived at Jacksonville, and announced themselves ready
to fight the Rogues." The terms of the treaty were then given.
Commenting on the battle in his report for Dec. i, 1853, Secretary Davis (op. cit., p. 4)
said: ". . . These operations appear to have been conducted with great energy and judg-
ment, and, in the final conflict. General Lane and Captain Alden (the latter in command
of the regular troops) were both severely wounded, while gallantly leading a charge
against the Indians."
The 1883 Flood on the Middle Yuba River
By Doris Foley and S. Griswold Morley
IN this article we purpose to give an account, based on printed and oral
testimony, of the "English Dam flood" on the Middle Yuba. In Part I we
shall describe its cause and its general destructive effects, and in Part II,
more specifically, what happened to the bridges that lay in its path.^
I. THE FLOOD
On June i8, 1883, English Dam on the Middle Fork of the Yuba River
gave way. This dam was located some six miles above the present Milton
Dam of the Nevada Irrigation District; that is to say, it was on the line of
Sierra and Nevada counties, two miles above Jackson Forks on the Henness
Pass road, and in the shadow of English Mountain. In his statement made at
the time, Henry Perchoir, acting president of the Milton Mining & Water
Co., said:
The dam was originally what is called a "crib dam," built of logs 25 years ago. About
eight years ago the company, at great expense, strengthened and raised the dam, thus
increasing the capacity of the reservoir. This was done by putting a very deep facing of
rock on the outside, and also a stone lining inside, carrying the comb a considerable dis-
tance above the top of the old dam. . . . The dam itself was about 400 feet long, and the
reservoir it formed back of it was about two and a half miles long, and a half-mile wide.^
June 18 was a Monday; the time was said to have been 5:00 a.m. George
Davis, the watchman, reached the spot a few moments after it began break-
ing. He said that "it started by carrying off the wooden upper portion, and
then gradually crumbled down the rest, stones and all, till nothing was left
but the site. The water was an hour and a half running out, and the mam-
moth sink was left dry."^
Superintendent H. C. Perkins of the Bloomfield and Milton Companies
declared that the dam "was subjected to a critical inspection on Friday last
and pronounced perfectly sound in all its parts . . . the indications point
strongly to the fact that the break was not accidental, but that the dam was
blown up by powder."* In accordance with his recommendation, the follow-
ing notice appeared in the local papers:
The Milton Mining and Water Company offer a reward of five thousand dollars for
information that will lead to the apprehension and conviction of the party or parties who
caused the destruction of the dam of the Milton Mining and Water Company, on the
1 8th instant, situated on the headwaters of the Middle Yuba river.^
In short, the company assumed that this was one more lawless act in the long
series that dotted the conflict between hydraulic miners and valley farmers.
The latter, however, did not admit such complicity. William T. Ellis, in his
elaborate description of the flood (cf. note 2), does not even mention the
theory of dynamiting. More will be said below concerning the controversy.
Whatever or whoever broke the dam, no criminals were ever convicted, or
233
2 34 Calif ornia Historical Society Quarterly
even, so far as we know, brought to trial. The cause of this flood in a rainless
month remains a mystery.
The immediate results were quickly felt. The released water caused a first-
class flood all the way down the Middle Yuba. The celebrated Ridge Tele-
phone Line, said to be the oldest long-distance line in the country,^' proved
its usefulness in an emergency. N. C. Miller, ditch superintendent, sent the
call to stations along the line, giving the approximate time the high water
should reach designated points.'^ Damage to property and lives was not small:
The house and barn at Jackson Ranch, in the valley three miles below the dam, took
passage for the Sacramento lowlands on the first wall of water that came along. The Black
brothers, who were ranching there, had crawled out of bed earlier than usual that morn-
ing, and saw the flood approaching just in time to climb above its reach. Some sheep
herders from a lower county had two or three days before pitched their camp near the
ranch. [They escaped, but lost all their paraphernalia and probably a number of sheep.]
Tom Fairweather, a ditch tender working for the company, lived in the valley six miles
below the dam, with his new-found wife. He saw the water approaching in time to save
his bride and most of his household furniture.^
Twelve miles downstream, opposite Graniteville perched on its ridge two
miles above, the river flows between exceedingly precipitous banks. Chinese
miners in the vicinity escaped by climbing the north bank. Of the two Reese
brothers, mining in the same locality, the elder was drowned. "He was quite
aged and decrepit, and although his more active brother made a brave effort
to rescue him it was no use." In this area the water was reported to have risen
a hundred feet above its normal level. Four miles farther down, according to
a news item,
at McKillicon's mine opposite Snow Point the tunnel starts in from the northern bank of
the river. When the water got to here the drift was rapidly filled up and the men working
inside would have drowned like rats in a hole had it not been that they had just com-
pleted an air shaft that came to the surface above the highest point the water reached,
and they were enabled to escape through it,^
The Eureka Lake Company Dam, a mile above the present Foote's Cross-
ing, was carried away. It was 24 to 30 feet high, and had been built to raise
water into the head of the San Juan ditch in order to supply the American
Mine at Sweetland. Thence the water was "conveyed along the cliff in a
flume, room for which was cut out of the soHd rock for one-half to two-
thirds of a mile. The dam and flume for one-half mile is completely gone.
... A short distance further down the flume crosses Bloody Run canyon on
a trestle 80 feet high. The water rushed up the canyon, tearing down the
trestle, destroying 200 feet of flume." At Horseshoe Bend, where the Poor-
man Claims are now located, four Chinese and an Italian were drowned. ^^
At Emory's Crossing, three miles above Freeman's, twelve Chinese cabins
were carried away.^^ The destruction at Freeman's will be described in the
second section of this article. The next place below, where damage was done,
was "at the dump of the American mine just below Sweetland where some
of their flume was carried away, taking some of the gold amalgam to enrich
Flood on Middle YubUj i88^ 235
12
the grain fields above Marysville." The loss was estimated at $5000.^
At Smartsville (i.e., opposite Smartsville, which is on a hill), the Tran-
script said that:
the water came down the river in a solid wave or wall, bearing on its crest a compact
mass of logs and other driftwood, forming a floating bridge which seemed solid enough
to enable a man to cross on it. Forty head of cattle were caught by the flood and were
swept away.i^
The flood had reached Smartsville at 1 1 a.m., and word was sent from
there to Marysville to expect it by 2 o'clock. At the county seat of Yuba
County many citizens assembled on the Yuba bridge to witness the coming
of the spate. Bets were made as to its probable height, and "the whole matter
was regarded rather as a thing for jesting than for alarm."^* At about three
o'clock the waters began rising gradually, till they reached a peak above
normal of two feet eight inches. They were turbulent and muddy: "I re-
member that at the D street bridge the water was almost as thick as syrup,
carrying a mass of mining debris; brush, trees, logs and other debris came
down in great quantities and the bridge itself was jammed with citizens
'watching the show,' " wrote W. T. EUis.^^ Alarm turned to disappointment,
and the crowd, not seeing the seething roaring wave it had expected, went
home. It did not know that the breaking of the levee in the Linda district had
relieved the pressure of the flood and possibly saved Marysville.
The Linda Township break is thus related:
B. P. Hugg, Deputy Assessor, happened to be in a field beside the levee and was the
first person to notice the break. He found the water coming through a gap in the top of
the levee. The gap was about a foot deep and a yard or so wide. The break was rapidly
growing larger. . . . He was on horseback and at once galloped to a field in which Beeney
and his men were at work harvesting and gave the alarm. Mr. Hugg says, in fifteen min-
utes after he first saw the gap it had become 40 feet wide, and a flood of water was pour-
ing in over the land. Nothing could be done to repair the break and there was nothing
for Beeney to do but to wait till the water should subside. Damage to the crops was
considerable.!®
The Beeney Ranch was located about seven miles east of Marysville on the
south side of the river.
As to the material transported, a news release expressed it thus:
The flood from the broken English Dam carried an enormous quantity of debris from
the Yuba river into the Feather, the greater portion of which is deposited in the channel
of the Feather for several miles below the confluence of the two streams. 1^
This flood brought to a focus the long-standing controversy between val-
ley farmers and hydraulic miners. We do not need even to recapitulate the
facts of that vital conflict, but we can contribute a few items closely related
to the English Dam flood. As was to be expected, newspapers on both sides
began lashing at each other, spurred by this new disaster. The Nevada Daily
Transcript was, of course, a miners' organ, and when it reported evidence
on the other side it was for the purpose of derision. On June 26 it copied a
paragraph from the Dutch Flat Times:
236 California Historical Society Quarterly
The Sacramento Bee, Marysville Appeal and all the other anti-mining papers have
struck it big by the breaking up of the English Dam. They had about exhausted their
supply of subject matter to misrepresent the miners. They now all make a big blow about
debris dams breaking and drowning out the valley people below, taking the broken Eng-
lish Dam as a sample of what debris dams will certainly do if allowed to be built in the
mountain rivers.
And on July 25 the Daily Transcript sneered: "A 'Wheatland Engineer' says
that the English Dam was destroyed 'by the blasting of the miners in the
vicinity, causing the earth and rocks to loosen, and the front of the reservoir
to give way.' The fool killer has a mission to perform at Wheatland." It
maintained that the damage was greater to the mining towns than to the
valley:
The breaking of the English Dam is more disastrous to the towns of French Corral,
Sweetland, Birchville, Cherokee and other places whose mines depend upon that reser-
voir for water, than if all their private dwellings, schoolhouses, churches and business
had been wiped out by fire. If the latter had occurred, the towns would have been rebuilt
at once by the enterprising residents, but to be deprived of their supply of water for
mining is a loss that cannot be repaired for this season at least. The happy homes, neat
schools and churches, and the heretofore good business stands must be abandoned, and
the people cast about for other scenes where they can begin life anew. . . . Must millions
of dollars worth of property in the mountains be destroyed and hundreds of families be
made homeless and houseless, to save a few sections of bug-eaten soil in the lower
country? ^^
Commenting editorially on June 28, the Transcript said:
The question now agitating the mining community of our state is not, "Who were the
mound builders of the Mississippi Valley?" but "Who are the dam destroyers of Cali-
fornia?" . . . Since the litigation against the mining interest was commenced in 1876, the
anti-miners have shown they were as much in earnest as the most rabid Nihilists, in the
indiscriminate destruction of property. As an instance we cite four dams injured or de-
stroyed, viz: I St, The Brush Dam on the Yuba was burned. 2nd, The Birdsall Dam on
Bear River was blown up. 3rd, The Alta Dam on Cedar Creek was blown up. 4th, And
now the great dam of the Milton Co., situated high in the mountains, has been utterly
destroyed, presumably by dynamite.
How many more dams are under the ban of the anti-mining fanatics we know not.
On January 7, 1884, Judge Lorenzo Sawyer of the United States Circuit
Court handed down a decision by which the miners were enjoined from
dumping debris into rivers. The injunction was upheld, and changed the
whole character of the mining communities.^^ The English Dam was never
rebuilt, and remnants of it stand today. The Milton Mining and Water Com-
pany estimated its losses at $150,000 in value of the dam, $75,000 in loss of
water revenue while rebuilding, and an indeterminate but large amount in
damage suits. It is said that the company paid all damage suits, but that state-
ment we are unable to document.^^
II. THE BRIDGES
We turn now to the effects of the flood upon the bridges spanning the
Middle Yuba.
Only two miles below the dam the Henness Pass road crosses the Yuba
Flood on Middle Yuba, iSS^ 237
twice within less than a mile. Today there are two bridges, but in 1883 the
crossings were by ford. The next important crossing was that of the Emory
Road, some 25 miles farther down. This also was then a ford, lined with
Chinese shacks.^^
Three miles farther down was and is Freeman's Crossing, on the most im-
portant of all highways spanning the Middle Yuba. It was and is the main
road connecting Nevada City and Downieville, the county seats of Nevada
and Sierra counties. Just north of the crossing the Alleghany road branches
to the east, and this too bore heavy traffic then, in the heyday of the mines.
Two covered bridges stood less than half a mile apart, one over the Middle
Yuba, the other over Oregon Creek, which flows into it a short distance
above Freeman's. The fate of these two bridges will be the chief theme of
the remainder of this paper.
Thomas Freeman was an early pioneer of notable energy and initiative.
At the crossing which took his name, he had developed a little industrial
center. His two-story hotel with its large verandas stood at the left of the
bridge after one crossed it toward Camptonville and Downieville. To the
right was a two-story broom factory known as the "Broom House," and its
excellent products ranged in price from two bits to fifty cents a broom. The
blacksmith shop and barn were farther to the right, and teams taking the
Alleghany and Henness Pass route went under its shed. South of the river,
on the Nevada County side, were the garden and orchard, surrounded by a
rock fence. Teamsters between North San Juan and Downieville told of
the delicious watermelons that grew there, and how Tom Freeman good-
naturedly turned his back when they climbed the wall to purloin a melon.^^
For thirty-one years Freeman had lived at the crossing. In 1850, Matthew
Sparks had established a ferry there, and on February 17, 185 1, he was
granted a license to build a bridge and collect tolls.^^ The spot was then
known as Nye's Crossing. Thomas Hess built the first bridge in 1851, but it
was carried away by a flood the same winter. He built another in 1852 and
sold it to Thomas Freeman in 1854. Thereafter it was called Freeman's
Crossing. In 1 855 he replaced Hess's bridge with a more substantial structure,
which stood till it was swept away in December 1861, the famous flood
winter. Freeman commenced the construction of another at once, but the
uncompleted frame was carried out by a freshet in January 1862. He then
moved a little farther down stream and built a four-span covered bridge,
240 feet long, resting on piers fifteen feet above the water. He took much
pride in this, his finest bridge.^* The center pier of this bridge can still be
seen, supporting nothing, below the present bridge.
On the morning of June 18, 1883, the watchman at the broken dam tele-
phoned N. C. Miller at his home in French Corral. He in turn undertook to
notify the stations of the telephone line, beginning with North San Juan.
The warning reached this town at about 7: 30 a.m., and a messenger was at
238 California Historical Society Quarterly
once despatched on horseback to Freeman's, two miles away.^^ The bridge-
owner's first care was to guide his blind wife from their comfortable home
to higher ground, where the family and servants were gathering. An hour
later a wave of trees, timbers, brush and boulders came around the bend.
A short distance above the bridge the debris chanced to form a temporary
dam. Freeman thought that perhaps this barrier might save his buildings.
The Downieville stage to Nevada City crossed the bridge, and had moved
a hundred yards beyond it when the obstruction gave way, and in a minute
the great quadruple covered span was swept away. Judge O. P. Stidger, editor
of the San Juan Times, a newspaper of the northern mines, was among the
passengers on the stage. In the words of the Transcript:
Of the fine bridge . . . there is no vestige left to tell where it once was. . . . The water
ran through the hotel three feet deep. A log crashing through the office door lodged in
the dining-rooms, the sand and debris left on the floors broke them down, and the house
is otherwise badly damaged. Of the blacksmith and carpenter shop . . . not a trace is left.
Even the 200-pound anvil is nowhere to be found. One side of the large broom-factory
was torn out, fortunately not carrying off the large quantity of brooms stored in the
upper story. The store -house, in which was stored 140 sacks of barley and other goods,
was moved from its foundation and badly damaged.^^
One of the Chinamen, ignoring a warning, returned to his cabin for his
clothes and was drowned.
Freeman estimated his loss at $12,000, but he would not have been a pio-
neer if he had been daunted by the disaster. At once he initiated repairs and
replacements. By June 29 fifty men were already working on the bridges
and roads. On July 17 the Daily Transcript reported: "Thomas Freeman has
from 60 to 80 men employed in reconstructing the Forest City road [i.e. the
Alleghany road] between his place and the Oregon Creek Crossing at the
Oregon Creek Bridge. The entire work will be completed Saturday." And
on August I : "Work will be begun shortly on the new bridge, which a San
Francisco company has taken the contract to build." This bridge was of iron
and steel. Meanwhile the teamsters were fording the Yuba at Freeman's, and
driving up the tailings in the stream till they passed Oregon Creek.^'^
Thomas Freeman continued living at the crossing till his death in 1892.^^
The property was then handed down to Ben Derickson, a nephew, who in
turn sold it to Theodore Wayman. Later all the buildings except the barn
burned down, and Wayman rebuilt the crossing as it looks today. In 19 19
a new highway bridge was constructed near the location of Freeman's 1855
bridge, the 1883 bridge was removed and the bam torn down. The present
owner of the property is Lloyd Harris of Oakland, California.
We have left to the last an account of what the English Dam flood did to
the Oregon Creek bridge, because that is a whole story in itself. Oregon
Creek has its source in the hills of Sierra County near Forest City, and empties
into the Middle Yuba from the north, less than half a mile above Freeman's.
The main road from the Downieville highway to Alleghany and Forest City
Flood on Middle Yuba, iSS^ 239
crosses Oregon Creek some 200 yards from its mouth, in Yuba County.
Thomas Freeman bought the Emory Road, three miles above, from its owner
in order to suppress it in favor of his own toll system.^^ As recalled by a con-
temporary: "Freeman also built a bridge across Oregon Creek in 1858, and
in 1 87 1 another, a little above the first, at a cost of twenty-five hundred dol-
lars. The original bridge was washed away subsequent to the construction
of the newone."^^
The second bridge, which still stands, was made of Douglas fir cut half
a mile up from Anderson's Ranch. The frame was designed and cut by Hugh
Thomas, and the marks of his adze are yet visible on its stout timbers. The
bridge is about 100 feet long, with a slight curve at each end. There was
every reason to suppose that the English Dam flood would not affect it, since
the water released on the Middle Yuba did not flow down Oregon Creek.
But a curious thing happened. The same natural dam of logs and brush,
which interrupted the flood's progress and caused Freeman to hope that his
bridge would be spared, lay just below the mouth of Oregon Creek. Behind
it the water backed up not only in the Middle Yuba but also in the creek.
This was, surely, the least likely emergency or danger that the builders of
the bridge could have conceived. To quote the Transcript:
A freight teamster came down from Forest City and was about to drive on the bridge
when the wave came. He describes it as taking the bridge up like a feather and carrying
it up the creek eight or ten rods, where it was tossed from side to side, and as the flood
dropped back was lodged 150 feet below its original place on the bank.^i
Like an enormous log it stuck endwise into the bar at the mouth of the creek.
We have already told how the wagons managed to drive past the creek
on their way to Alleghany. But that was a makeshift that would not serve
for long. Freeman needed the tolls as much as the miners needed the road.
He had to decide whether he would abandon the old bridge and build a new
one, or try to haul the old one back to its fonner place on the stone abut-
ments, eighteen feet above the creek bed. The latter alternative seemed all
but impractical, but he asked Solon Chatfield, a logging contractor who
owned his own oxen, if it could be done. Chatfield replied that he could do
it, if he were given four more men and plenty of time.
It was late July 1883 when the work began. The men, besides Solon Chat-
field, were Andrew Jackson "Jack" Grimes (Freeman's engineer), William
Sponknabel (pronounced Sp6nnable),Ed Lydik, and Nels Chatfield (Solon's
son), then a youth of seventeen and the chief authority for these details.
Planks, 3 in. X 1 2 in. X 1 8 ft., were laid on the roadway to make it solid. Huge
rollers, such as are used in housemoving, were prepared. At first, four yoke
of oxen were hitched on, but, in the end, six yoke were necessary. Three sets
of block and tackle were used to increase power; the one next the oxen was a
"single fall," the second a "double fall," and the third a "triple fall." Nels
Chatfield took care of the block and tackles, changing them every twelve
240 California Historical Society Quarterly
feet. Lydik's task was to move the planks from rear to front, and he used a
team of oxen to do it. A false bridge was thrown across the creek, and the
bridge hauled over it; when it was in place the falsework was removed. The
entire job took three weeks. The Daily Transcript of August 11, 1883, re-
ported that "Freeman's road and bridge to Forest City across Oregon Creek
are now in first rate order." A queer result of the flood had been that in the
process the bridge was turned end for end. It had landed with its west end
downstream; and since, manifestly, it could not be turned and the hauling
was done on the east side, it came up the road east end first and so landed on
the abutments wrong end to.
The old bridge stands thus today, a monument to the sturdy construction
of the pioneers and to their engineering ingenuity. The original shake roof
was replaced some years ago by galvanized iron which, by reason of its per-
manence and its smoothness in shedding snow, is coming to be the favorite
roofing material in the mountains. In the spring of 1947, Yuba County found
it necessary to repair the bridge. The bottom chords had rotted and were
replaced by steel girders; some decayed wood in the upper structure was
renewed, but the framework was not much disturbed. C. C. Gildersleeve
was the contractor for most of the work, and the total cost was close to
$10,000.^^ Mr. Morley had the pleasure of driving across the bridge on April
2, 1947. The floor planking had been removed, and the automobile wheels
had only the girders to follow. To be sure, there were heavy "wheel guards,"
but, even so, the rushing waters of Oregon Creek, seen directly below the
car during a hard rainstorm, looked ominously close.
NOTES
1. This account is taken mainly from newspapers of the day and from eye-witnesses,
as cited below. To the latter go our thanks. There is an almost complete file of the Ne-
vada City Daily Transcript in the Nevada City public library.
2. San Francisco Morning Call, June 20, 1883. Perchoir (sometimes spelled Pichoir)
gives other details of the construction in his statement. The Nevada City Daily Tran-
script, June 19, 1883, stated that the dam was in three vertical sections of stone and wood,
"and had a height at the center section of 125 feet. Its capacity was 650,000,000 cu. ft.,
connected with it are eighty miles of ditches, having a carrying capacity of 2,800 inches
and leading to the Milton Company's hydraulic mines at Badger Hill, Manzanita Hill,
Birchville and French Corral." Similar but slightly varying figures on the dam and reser-
voir are given by W. T. Ellis, Memories (Eugene, Ore., 1939), p. 80. On June 20, the
Transcript added, on the strength of an interview with H. C. Perkins, superintendent of
the Bloomfield and also of the Milton Co., that at the time of the accident the stone
facing had been completed to within six feet of the water's surface, where a wooden
superstructure had been made to do duty till the stonework could be raised.
3. Daily Transcript, June 19, 1883. All the contemporary testimony corroborates June
18 as the date of the break. Ellis's memory played him false when he wrote {loc. cit.) :
"The dam failed by being overtopped at 5 p.m., June 19, 1883."
4. Daily Transcript, June 20, 1883, interview with Superintendent Perkins. "The North
Flood on Middle Yuba, iS8^ 241
Bloomfield mining corporation holds one-half the stock of the Milton company" {ibid.,
June 19). According to Miss Miller (note 7 below), Davis, the sole witness of the break,
fell soon after from a flume to his death. The miners suspected foul play.
5. This is taken from the Truckee Republican, June 27, 1883, under "Local Lines," but
it was widely published. A lengthy editorial on the offer, from the miners' point of view,
in the San Francisco Post, is quoted in the Daily Transcript of June 29,
6. State highway markers, indicating the stations of this telephone, read: "FIRST
LONG DISTANCE TELEPHONE." There are such markers on the telephone build-
ing at French Corral and at various highway points.
7. This statement comes from Miss Lois Miller, daughter of N. C. Miller. The family
then lived in French Corral, and she often accompanied her father and older sister on
tours of ditch inspection. Now, at the age of eighty. Miss Miller lives in the Freeman
Hotel, Auburn, Calif.
8. The several statements collected in this paragraph are from the Daily Transcript of
June 20.
9. Quotations from same issue of the Transcript, and other statements are based either
on that issue or the one of June 19.
10. Daily Transcript, June 29, quoting a correspondent of the Sacramento Bee. The
identification of Horseshoe Bend with the Poorman Claims is by W. H. Wayman (see
note 22 below).
11. Daily Transcript, June 20.
12. Ibid., June 29, quoting the Bee. The last statement is based on the Transcript of
June 20.
13. Daily Transcript, June 21; in the issue of June 26 details are added: owing to a
sudden widening of the river canyon at this point, the waters spread out and the raft of
logs broke up and scattered. "Had it not dispersed, the cattle would probably all have
been killed. Many were carried away by the flood, but all finally succeeded in reaching
the shore."
14. Daily Transcript, June 21. 15. Ellis, loc. cit.
16. Daily Transcript, June 21. Ellis (loc. cit.) gives a variant of the story.
17. Daily Transcript, June 23. The amount of sediment carried on the flood was care-
fully measured. The Daily Transcript of June 21 said: "Sample bottles were filled at the
surface, and after standing a few minutes they would show a deposit of sand equal to
one-sixth of the volume of the water, while much light matter would still be floating in
suspension." Ellis (op. cit., p. 81) declared: "Samples were taken of the water four feet
under the river surface and showed 3.3 per cent of 'slickens'; all previous tests had never
shown over 1.125 per cent of material."
18. Daily Transcript, June 20.
19. His decision in "The Mining Debris Case," as printed in Reports of Cases, Circuit
and District Courts of the United States Ninth Circuit, reported by L. S. B. Sawyer (San
Francisco, 1885), reviews the entire situation authoritatively. The English Dam flood is
described briefly on p. 484. Strangely, no adequate monograph on the historic contro-
versy seems to exist.
20. Lois Miller (cf, note 7 above) states that the Milton Co. settled all damage suits.
The estimate of loss is taken from the interview with Henry Perchoir referred to in note
2. The San Francisco Morning Call of June 22 estimated the damage to farmers in Linda
Township alone as follows: 2,200 acres under water, of which 1,300 in standing grain;
the loss was said to come to $34,500, not including minor damage to roads, bridges, gar-
dens, levee and live stock; the total loss might reach forty to fifty thousand dollars.
21. Nels Chatfield (cf. note 30 below) recalls it as a ford, and the Smartsvillc sheet of
the U. S. Geological Survey, surveyed in 1885 and 1886, marks it as Emory Ford. How-
242 California Historical Society Quarterly
ever, we must note tliat W. H. Chamberlain's History of Yuba County (Oakland, 1879),
p. 113b, in a list of bridges of the county, includes "Emory's bridge across the Middle
Yuba, four miles above Freeman's"; and the History of Placer and Nevada Counties by
W. B. Lardner and M. J. Brock (Los Angeles, 1924), p. 573, in a biography of David I.
Wood, states that in addition to his well-known bridge across the South Yuba at Bridge-
port, he "also owned ... the bridge at Emory's crossing on the Middle Yuba." David
Wood died in 1875. We do not know at what time this bridge disappeared. Nels Chat-
field thinks it was torn down by Freeman to divert travel to his own toll roads.
22. A large-scale lithograph of the buildings at Freeman's may be seen in Chamber-
lain, op. cit., between pp. 140 and 141. The statements identifying the buildings and de-
scribing the garden were oral, from W. H. Wayman, before his death in June 1949, aged
76. He was the brother of Theodore Wayman, who purchased the Freeman holdings
from Ben Derickson. Theodore was killed in 191 1 in a wagon accident, and W. H. Way-
man managed the crossing till 191 3, when the property was sold.
23. A list of the tolls charged by Sparks is given in Harry L. Wells, History of Nevada
County (Oakland, 1880), p. 132: "Wagon, loaded, $3. Wagon, empty, $2. Horse or mule
with rider or pack, .50. Cattle per head, .25. Footman, .20."
24. The history of the various bridges is derived from the histories of Yuba and Nevada
counties, already cited, with some details from the Daily Transcript, June 29, 1883. The
lithograph already mentioned shows the four-span bridge.
25. Miss Lois Miller is authority for the statement about the telephoned warning.
Other personal details in this paragraph are from W. H. Wayman.
26. The Daily Transcript, June 29, 1883.
27. The estimate of damage is from the Daily Transcript of June 20; the statement
about driving up the tailings, from W. H. Wayman.
The following item ought to be retrieved from oblivion: "The teamsters who haul
freight from this city to Sierra County say that the party libelled them who told the
Transcript that they did some tall swearing when they were fording the Middle Yuba at
Freeman's last week. They say teamsters never swear under any circumstances." (Daily
Transcript, June 28, 1883.)
28. "Thomas Freeman, the well known owner of the Middle Yuba Bridge, died sud-
denly at his residence near the crossing on Sunday morning. He caught cold about six
weeks ago. . . . On Sunday morning he ate a hearty breakfast and then went into an ad-
joining room, sat down in a chair and immediately expired. Mr. Freeman was a man
universally respected, being always square in his dealings with his fellowmen. His age
was 70 years." (Daily Transcript, Dec. 27, 1892.)
29. Statement of Nels Chatfield and W. H. Wayman.
30. Chamberlain, op. cit., p. looa. The date 1871 is corroborated by an item kindly
furnished to us by Brisbane Henderson, road commissioner of Yuba County: On Friday,
Nov. 17, 1 87 1, the board of supervisors of Yuba County rejected Thomas Freeman's
petition for county aid in having constructed a bridge above Freeman's Crossing on
Oregon Creek. (Ref. Min. Book #4, Board of Supervisors of Yuba County.)
The details concerning its construction and the account of the hauling of the bridge
were obtained from Charles Nelson ("Nels") Chatfield, aged 83, who spends his sum-
mers in Pike and winters in Nevada City. He was seventeen when he took part in the
hauling job. Mr. Chatfield speaks with difficulty, a consequence of having inhaled flames
in attempting to extinguish a fire in a mine of which he was manager, but his mind is
clear and he recalls details easily and with pleasure.
31. Daily Transcript, June 29, 1883.
32. These facts and figures were furnished to Mr. Morley in Marysville on Nov. 23,
1948, through the courtesy of Brisbane Henderson (see note 30 above).
The Hudson's Bay Company in San Francisco
By Anson S. Blake
(Concluded)
Arriving in San Francisco the 30th December 1841, Simpson was greeted
by Rae. On the third of January 1 842, accompanied by Rae and James Alex-
ander Forbes, British vice-consul, he started out to visit General Vallejo.**
On his return he called on Alcalde Francisco Guerrero.** Meantime a mes-
senger returned from Monterey with a reply to a request for permission to
land certain goods without first entering them at the custom house in Mon-
terey. (Cf. par. 2 and 16, Rae's letter of Oct. 14, 1841, transcribed above.)
The request was denied; accordingly the Cowlitz sailed for Monterey,
where she was promptly boarded by six officers of the customs "who flocked
down to our vessel like vultures to their prey," to quote Simpson's words.*®
After much discussion, duties were paid on the goods for the San Francisco
establishment and they were trans-shipped on an American vessel at a cost
of $200 for transportation back to San Francisco.*® Visits were made on the
governor and all of the principal inhabitants. With all of these people Simp-
son probed into the condition of the country, its people and its govern-
ment.*'^ Simpson not only made calls; he received one from Francis Ermat-
I inger, head of the company's trapping party of the year on the Sacramento,
or, as it was called by Hudson's Bay men, the Bonaventura River. Ermatinger
gave a discouraging report of the region as a future trapping area.*^ After a
brief stay, the Cowlitz headed for Santa Barbara. Here again Simpson visited
and talked with all the principal inhabitants and with the clergy, getting
the views of the various factions and of the neutrals. He found little to praise
and much to criticize in the government. He had this to say of purely per-
sonal contacts: "Among the light-hearted and easy tempered Califomians,
the virtue of hospitality knows no bounds; they literally vie with each other
in devoting their time, their homes, and their means, to the entertainment of
a stranger."*^ However, he evidently came to the conclusion that it was a
better country to visit than to do business in.
He sailed from Santa Barbara for Honolulu. At Honolulu he and Mc-
Loughlin were to part company after their joint inspection of California.
It would seem that Simpson had been expecting that McLoughlin might
accept the changed policy of abandoning the trading posts on the coast, for
he had written in a private letter, dated November 15, 1841, to Andrew
Colville (deputy-governor of the Hudson's Bay Company in London), be-
fore starting on the trip, as follows:
The Doctor is as much opposed to the abandonment of the p>osts on the N.W. Coast
noticed in the General dispatch, as he has all along been to the Steamer, & for no other
243
244 California Historical Society Quarterly
reason that I can discover, than that the measure did not originate with himself. To do
him justice, however, although he never ceases talking about any measures that are
forced upon him, he nevertheless pushes them when determined upon, with as much
energy as if his own.^^
This time, however, they came to the parting of the ways. Dr. Lamb, in
his introduction to the second volume of the McLoughlin letters, writes:
Meanwhile McLoughlin had held stubbornly to his opinion. Simpson's plan was
diametrically opposed to the conceptions upon which he had developed the coastal trade
over a period of fifteen years, and he refused to regard it with anything but hostility
and resentment. Moreover, Simpson had soon added fuel to the flames by reviving the
long standing depot controversy. He broadened his proposals to include the building of
a new post at the southern (instead of the northern) end of Vancouver Island, and this
he intended should by degrees supersede Fort Vancouver as the Company's head-
quarters for the entire region.^^
The disagreement resulted in the interchange of a series of letters at Hono-
lulu, where, according to Sir George's Narrative (I, 433-34), they were
housed in the second floor of an abandoned palace, consisting of two large
and two smaller "apartments," hung with engravings of the American
Declaration of Independence and a portrait of the King of Prussia, "badly
executed in oil." Each party set out his views in somewhat acrimonious
fashion at considerable length, and here California seems to have become
a major subject of dispute for the first time. On March i, 1842, Simpson
addressed a long and detailed series of instructions to McLoughlin from
which I quote a portion: ^^
**#* SIMPSON TO McLoughlin, i
8. I believe you fully agree with me as to the inexpediency of persevering
in our attempt to form a business in California. On this subject I have said
so much to the Govr. & Committee in the annexed pars, of my dispatch, that
it is not necessary to enlarge thereon in this communication. By the ac-
companying letter to Mr. Rae, you will see that I have requested the business
be wound up with the least possible delay, and that, if the premises cannot be
sold, that they be rented to some good tenant, if such can be found, who will
keep them in repair until they can be otherwise disposed of. Mr. Rae seemed
to think, that, in the course of this season, he would have, of his own collec-
tion, about 10,000 Hides: of that, however, I am very doubtful. By the
accompanying letter and instructions given to him while in California, he
is authorised to purchase for cash or goods, or take on freight for England,
a sufficient quantity of Hides, with his own collection, to make up a return
cargo for the Prince Albert. From the unwillingness of the people of Cali-
fornia to do any business that is likely to prove advantageous to the Com-
pany, with a view of discouraging our continuance in the trade, I am appre-
hensive Mr. Rae will not be able to make a purchase at the market price,
nor to get hides on freight. It may, therefore, be well to provide at the
Columbia a quantity of choice spars, equal to half a cargo, for the English
Hudson'' s Bay Company in San Francisco 245
Market, and to send the vessel on to California immediately after she has
discharged her cargo at Vancouver, sending an active, intelligent officer, to
act under the directions of Mr. Rae at San Francisco, or as Supercargo.^^
If a full cargo can be obtained, the spars may be left or sold upon the coast,
if not, to be taken on to England, in either case the ship taking her departure
direct for England (vi^ithout touching at the Islands or elsewhere) before
the 1 5th November, so that she may arrive in London in time to proceed
to the Bay in June.
9. As it is not intended to continue the California business, it will be un-
necessary to provide the decked Launch required;^* and any goods that may
be imported, intended for that market, instead of being forwarded should be
made applicable to meeting any demands for the Sandwich Islands or for
Vancouver, as I am decidedly averse to forwarding any more goods to Cali-
fornia under any circumstances, and must put an unqualified negative on
the drawing of funds for cash purchases after the cargo of the Albert shall
have been provided; indeed, every transaction that we have entered into in
that country of late, will be found to be productive of vexation and loss;^^
and after the contracts and other Engagements that have been already
entered into for the purchase of Grain,^^ are completed, I have to beg that
no farther transactions of any kind be entered into with any one, of what-
ever rank or standing in California. The grain which Governor Alvarado,
Genl. Vallego and Mr. Sutter have contracted to deliver, I consider, would
be a very dear purchase even at the freight & charges of transport, and that
submitting quietly to the loss of the purchase money, which was paid in
advance, would be a safer and better way of getting out of the transaction,
than by sending craft for the purpose of transporting it.
10. From Mr. Ermatinger's report [see note 48 above] of the country
both on the Sacramento and other rivers falling into the Bay of San Fran-
cisco, and that of the Rio Colorado, about Red Bay, it is quite evident that
no good can arise from prosecuting the Fur trade or maintaining the trapping
parties in those districts of country ;^^ and after the operations of the present
season are over, instead of sending the Expedition back to California, or
forming a trading establishment at Pelican or Trinidad Bay, as was contem-
plated, or any other part of the coast or interior country. South of the
Shasty Mountains,^^ I have to beg that the Expedition be broken up, unless
you can find useful employment for it in the Snake country; in short, the
sooner we break off all communications, either directly or indirectly with
California, the better.
11. I think Mr. Rae ought to remain at his post until after the killing
season of 1843, and that in the fall of that year a vessel be sent to remove
the hides, such part of the property of the establishment as cannot be dis-
posed of for prompt payment, and to carry Mr. Rae and the people back to
Vancouver; but on no consideration to prolong the winding up of this losing
246 California Historical Society Quarterly
business beyond the autumn of 1843; ^^^ ^"7 debts that may then be out-
standing, I would recommend being sold, if possible, to Mr. Spence of Mon-
terey [see note 20 above], Wilson & Scott of Santa Barbara,^^ or any of the
very few other respectable people in that quarter, at any thing they may
fetch; indeed I should think 33-1/3 p.cent. prompt payment, on the debts
that may be then outstanding would be their full value.
McLoughlin on the same day replied^^ to this letter, defending his actions
regarding San Francisco, which produced the following rejoinder from
Simpson on March 3, 1842.^^
SIMPSON TO McLOUGHLIN, II
2. With regard to the instructions given to Mr. Rae, in reference to the
purchase of an Establishment at San Francisco, and to the mode of conduct-
ing the business in California, no doubt can exist that those instructions
were dictated by a most anxious wish to place that new branch of business
on an advantageous footing; but you quite misunderstood the Govr. & Com-
mittee's desire with regard to an Establishment, who never could have meant
the purchase of some 100 or 150 yards frontage by as many in depth, at the
wretched place of Yerba Buena, which of all others is the least adapted in
point of situation & climate for an Establishment;^^ their Honors' view and
intention having been to get possession of a large district of country, where
they might, if hereafter found advisable, carry on pastoral and agricultural
operations upon an extensive scale, besides other business. Such a district of
country might have been obtained by management without any purchase,
and the very few servants that would have been required to carry on the
business, could easily have erected the buildings necessary in such a climate
for their protection from the elements. Under these circumstances it would
not have been necessary to detain the vessel, as a place might have been
rented for the purpose of depositing the goods until our arrival upon the
spot, at some 200 or 300I, instead of paying 4600$ for the buildings we have
got, which, as you say, are not paid for in Cash, but in goods at 50 p.cent.
advance on Vancouver prices, which, at that low per centage, will be found
to amount to much more money than if paid for in specie. But, as stated in
my letter to the Gov. & Committee, I must repeat, the business was gone
into precipitately,^^ and knowing as you did that I was expected in the
Columbia in the month of August, and that I should be in California in the
course of the Winter, it would have been better to have so long (say from 3
to 4 months) deferred any final arrangement, until we should have been
enabled to form an opinion for ourselves upon the spot, as to the best mode
of embarking in that branch of business.
*###
5. With further reference to the California trade, which you agree with
me does not appear to be an object for the Company to prosecute, I have no
Hudson'' s Bay Company in San Francisco 247
doubt it might be found to answer by an industrious individual without
capital, who had nothing to lose; but in the present state of that country I am
decidedly of opinion that any Capitalist embarking in business there, must
lose his means, unless gifted with more than ordinary prudence in his deal-
ings; and in conclusion to my reference to this subject, I do not see that any
good can arise from you or Mr. Douglas revisiting California; on the con-
trary, I think that both your time and the time of that Gentleman would be
much more usefully employed by remaining at your posts, especially so, as
I cannot give my consent to continue this branch of business, which in my
opinion can be productive of no other results than loss and inconvenience,
while it distracts our attention from more important duties, and deprives us
of the means of employing our shipping upon other and more productive
branches of business, I have, therefore, to beg that the business be wound up
in the course of the year 1 843, leaving, if necessary, Mr. Rae alone, unencum-
bered by family or followers of any description to close any outstanding
matters, until the following Spring or Summer, when he may take a passage
from California to the Sandwich Islands, in any vessel proceeding thither,
and from the Islands go to Ft. Vancouver or by any favorable opportunity.
As we see from the foregoing, Rae was notified by Sir George Simpson
that the San Francisco establishment was to be closed. He was promised a
ship, the Prince Albert, to load with hides for the summer. This promise was
based on the assumption that the company's vessel would reach the coast at
the usual time. The officials in London found it necessary to make other
arrangements for the Prince Albert.^^ They then had to charter the Valley-
field, and the delays involved prevented her from reaching Vancouver until
July 2 1, 1842. In addition to her other cargo, she had new boilers aboard for
the Beaver. The Beaver was at Nisqually, at the lower end of Puget Sound;
consequently this meant further delay while the Valley field went there to
unload the boilers. As the latter's cargo had been damaged by leakage,^^
McLoughlin released her, but suggested that she call at San Francisco as Rae
might have a cargo of hides. The supercargo of the Valley field. Captain
Woodward, promised to call, so McLoughlin gave him "... 15 barrels
Salmon, §6 barrels Flour, and 6 puncheons Rum, which is in demand at St.
Francisco, and of which in consequence of the happy event of no liquor
being sold on the Coast, we have a superabundance, and Calefornia is the
only place where we can sell it . . ."^^
The Valley field did touch at Yerba Buena, reaching there on 29th October
1842. By her Rae dispatched the following letter, addressed to the secretary
of the Hudson's Bay Company in London:
To Yerba Buena, November I St 1842.
William Smith esq
Sir
I address you this letter.— By Sir George Simpsons directions in January
248 California Historical Society Quarterly
last as well as by letter received from Cheif Factor McLoughlin received
the 29th ultimo by the Ship Valleyfield, I Beg leave to say that I would make
a more general report on the state of trade on this coast to the Governor &
Committee, had I not been so long confined in bed, and not yet able to write
myself.
2d. I have concluded to dispatch the Valleyfield to the Sandwich Islands
without freight not having sufficient belonging to the Company of Furs &
hides to authorize me to pay the demurrage and tonnage duties, had a vessel
arrived at the time specified by Sir George Simpson and Chief Factor
McLoughlin; to say the latter part of June or first of July of the present
year I could have obtained sufficient freight, but being uncertain as to the
time of the vessel's arrival I could not make any fixed agreement; I could
have had freight to the amount of 30,000 hides including those belonging to
the Company and at 2/6 sterling per hide,^^ but I do not wish this to be
understood as a general rule, by which to form an idea of the freight from
this coast.—
3d. I have collected at this station for outfit 1842 up to the present time.
Bullock Hides 5000
Tallow 20,000 lbs.
Otter Skins (Land) 445
Beaver 254
Sea Otter 6
Wheat 3000 fanegas
of which amount part of the otter & beaver have been dispatched by the
Cowlitz to the Columbia River.
4th. The trade here has been very much depressed the past year, on
account of the number of vessels on the Coast and great inf [l]ux of goods,
the collections consequently have been much smaller than was expected and
all the merchants have been disappointed, not less than fourteen vessels
having been in this bay, and many with larger amounts out than the Com-
pany.^^ The year before having been one of great drougth has placed the
people in a bad situation, being obliged to pay the debts of two years in
one, the establishment by that has had probably one of the worst years for
sales & collections that would be experienced for some time, and I have had
many difficulties to Struggle with in my business, but on the whole have the
pleasure to know that I have suceded better than any commercial interest
here; to enter fully into the subject of the smaller difficulties of business
here, would occupy more of your time than the subject demands, especially
as I know you have received full information on the subject and am aware
that Sir George Simpson has written fully likewise.—
5th. Owing to the arrival of several men of war from the United States
of North America, one of which has had possession of the Capital of the
province, affairs are now in a very precarious situation. Should they finally
HudsoTi's Bay Company in San Francisco 249
take possession of the country, goods would fall very much in value, but
the landed estate would rise in value, and consequently though the Company
might lose on the goods, the rise in value of real estate would in a measure
counterballance.
6th. In a short time hence I shall be under the necessity of drawing on
their Honours for about the amount of $3,000, say Three Thousand Dol-
lars which I am authorized to do by Sir George Simpson.
I have already mentioned my sickness which prevents my writing as
fully as I could wish. ^^ ^^^ meantime
I have the honour to be
On reverse: ^^ rw^^c^ ^
CTRae Your very Obt Svt
Verba Buena Nov. 1 742 [signed] W. G. Rae [half rubric]
Reed. Aug. 27/43.
The reference to the taking possession of Monterey by U. S. war vessels
is, of course, to the action of Commodore Jones, who hoisted the American
flag on the rumor that war with Mexico had broken out. He soon discovered
his mistake and returned the town to its owners with apologies and the
honors of war.^®
Although the instructions of Sir George Simpson were quite specific not
to send a trapping party into California again, we find McLoughlin writing
to the governor and committee on October 31,1 842 : ^^
22. The Calefornia party under Mr. Ermatinger made poorly out, but still as by
letting those men hunt in this vicinity, they would be tampered vi^ith by our opponents,
I sent them back to hunt in the Bay of St. Francisco under the charge of Mr. Laframboise,
and it is probable they will remain out two years.
On May 29, 1843, McLoughlin wrote the London officials of the com-
pany as follows: ^^
McLOUGHLIN TO GOVERNOR AND COMMITTEE, I
2. The Columbia from London, and Vancouver from St. Francisco,
crossed the Columbia Bar, together, and arrived here on the 1 2 Inst.
3. By the Vancouver, we received the returns of Calefornia Outfit 1842,
and the Accounts, by which it appears, that the Outfit has cleared £2363,
it lost in 1 84 1, the sum of £900, but this is because it arrived too late, in the
season, and it must be taken into consideration, that it has paid $4600 for the
house, for which it has taken no credit, that 40 p. cent is deducted from
the outstanding debt, and although the heavy Calefornia duties are paid on
the goods on hand, still we only Credit them on Inventory at 33-1/3 p. cent
on prime cost, the same as at this place, and it is certain, from our not having
been able to send a vessel to go along the Coast, the business has not had a
fair trial, however I write Mr. Rae to write you fully on the subject, and
give you all the information he possesses, so as you will be better able to
250 Calif ornia Historical Society Quarterly
decide, if it is to be continued or not. And to do the business justice, Mr.
Rae would require to have a vessel similar to ours, to run up and down the
Coast, to trade and collect hides, as other collectors do, and if we could not
jfill her up with the hides we procured, we would get hides for the purpose
on freight to London. And the best way we can remit to London, the dollars
we get at Woahoo, is to send them to Calefornia, to be invested. ^^ There
are by last Accounts about nine thousand dollars at Woahoo, if we had a
vessel, disposable to send from here to Woahoo, to take these dollars to Cale-
fornia, it would enable us to procure about twenty thousand Hides, by pay-
ing half Goods and half Cash. It is true we have two vessels here, the Van-
couver & Columbia, but they are both required to go to the Coast, with the
Russian Goods & Grain [see note 24, above] and the Outfits for the Coast.
4. The best way at present to carry on this Trade (with the information
we have) is to put the Goods, for Calefornia Trade, on board the vessel with
the freight for Sitika, and that she should touch at Woahoo to get the dollars,
proceed to Sitika, deliver her freight, come here to communicate your
instructions and proceed to St. Francisco, where she ought to be by the
I June, and remain there till I Novr., as by that time, she would have a
Cargo of hides for the London market.
5. If the business is to be continued, Mr. Rae will require assistance, which
can be sent from this.
Apparently much cheered by the favorable showing of the San Francisco
trade for 1842, McLoughlin was hoping for a reversal of Simpson's orders
to close the San Francisco establishment.
Following the instructions noted above, Rae wrote the secretary in Lon-
don as follows:
WiUiam Smith Esquire ^erba Buena
& & 27th August 1843
Sir
By a letter received from Chief Factor McLoughlin dated 29th May last,
I am directed to address you for the information of their Honors and to
communicate my opinion regarding the California Trade.
Sir George Simpson is so decidedly opposed to the Company's carrying
on business in this Country that my ideas on the subject would have but little
effect with their honors. I therefore decline giving any opinion whatever, but
beg to refer their Honors to the Copy (in part) of my letter to C. F. [Chief
Factor] McLoughlin dated 14th October 1841,^^ which I herewith forward,
no part of which communication I so far see any cause to change my mind
about, except to the paragraph which refers to the purchasing of hides etc.
for half Cash and half Goods, though authorised [Simpson to McLoughlin,
Mar. I, 1842, j[9, quoted above] I have as yet been unable to transact any
Hudson'' s Bay Company in San Francisco 2 5 1
business in this manner. The best way is for their honors to judge by the
result of Outfit 1842, an Account Current of which C. F. [Chief Factor]
McLoughlin has forwarded.
The Barque Diamond Captain Fowler arrived here two days ago from the
Columbia with a Cargo of Lumber etc., for Oahu and this is the only oppor-
tunity I have had of addressing you since the receipt of Chief Factor Mc-
Loughlin's letter, already alluded to.
The Company's trapping Party under the charge of Mr. Leframboise left
the Sacramento a few days ago. They have made out miserably I do not think
the whole hunt exceeds 650 Otter and beaver Skins.
Should their Honors decide on continuing the California Trade, it will
be necessary to send here by earliest opportunity the requisition for this
place, forwarded from Fort Vancouver in the Spring of 1841, for Shipment
1842— Outfit 1844.
The prospects here at present are by no means good, the season has been
remarkably dry, the result is no Grass, the Cattle are poor, the people conse-
quently will not kill them, and the wheat Crops have generally failed."^* I
herewith forward a Copy of my letter to Chief Factor McLoughlin, rela-
tive to his late unfortunate son [murdered in April 1842], who could not
have become more strict afterwards at Stekine than I was whilst there and
then it was necessary— We had some of the greatest Scoundrels in the Indian
Country to deal with.
I have the honor to be
^ Sir
On reverse: it
W. G. Rae Your obedient humble Servant
YBuena Aug. 27/43 [signed] W. G. Rae [rubric]
Reed. Jany 9/44
Read, loth.
Rae, as this letter shows, was not as hopeful as McLoughlin that the Lon-
don authorities would overrule Simpson's orders, and he declined to be
drawn into the controversy.
McLoughlin in a letter to London dated November 15, 1843, notes the
return of the California trapping party under Michel Laframboise, men-
tioned in the foregoing letter of Rae's, and adds that in the coming winter
they will hunt about the Umpqua.'^^ This was the last California trapping
party. In the same letter he repeated his views concerning the Yerba Buena
store, in the same terms as in his earlier letter. This must have been done
after receipt of a letter from London dated December 21, 1842, which com-
mented on the California business and which said "We therefore approve of
the determination, that has been come to, of discontinuing that branch of
the business."^^ Certainly in eleven months some copy of this letter would
have reached him, notwithstanding the slow and irregular means of com-
252 California Historical Society Quarterly
munication. McLoughlin's next reference is in a letter to London dated
July 4, 1844.'^
McLOUGHLIN TO GOVERNOR AND COMMITTEE, II
3. I have not heard from Mr. Rae since May 1843 when our party left
there to come here at which I am not surprised, as we have no communica-
tion with that place, except when our vessels or hunting parties go there,
and since 1 842 we have had no hunting parties in that direction, and it has
been quite impossible for me to send any of our vessels to Calefornia since
the Vancouver was there Spring 1843, and it is quite out of my power to
send any this Season, unless perhaps the Cadboro after she has accomplished
the Service on which she is now employed; she left Cape Disappointment
loth June with part of Fort Langley Outfit, from thence she returns with
a Cargo of wheat to Fort Victoria, takes the Nisqually Outfit to that place,
& brings the Returns & wool to Fort Victoria proceeds to Langley with the
remainder of the Outfit, brings a Cargo of last Years Salmon to Fort Victoria,
& returns to Langley for a Cargo of this Years Salmon, with which she will
be here in September, when it will be too late to proceed (to be of any pos-
sible use) to Mr. Rae; and I enter into these particulars, how the Cadboro
is employed, as persons unacquainted with the details of the Business of this
Department, suppose this transport can be performed by the Steamer, but
when this transportation has to be made the Steamer is obliged to attend
to the trade of the Coast.'^®
****
5. From my ignorance of Mr. Rae's situation I cannot say what to do,
and must leave it to him to decide, and I now send him a list of the goods
at Woahoo, and have written him to order from Messrs. Pelly and Allen^^
any goods suitable to the Trade of Calefornia, and have written to these
Gentlemen on the subject.
But perhaps since you wrote me you have communicated your decision
to Mr. Rae, & of course that will settle the business.
HUDSON'S BAY COMPANY WITHDRAWS FROM CALIFORNIA SCENE
McLoughlin wrote to Rae in the summer of 1 844, sending the letters by
Capt. Thomas Baillie of the Modeste, a British war vessel. Although Baillie
saw Rae, he forgot to deliver the letters but took them on to Honolulu. ^^
On November 21, 1844, McLoughlin acknowledges a letter from the Gov-
ernor and Committee of April i, 1844, which had contained specific and
emphatic orders to close the California business.^^ Apparently for the first
time McLoughlin decided to make an effort to comply with his instructions.
It was not until March that he was able to despatch the Cowlitz to pick up
Rae and his goods.^^ On arrival at Yerba Buena, her officers found Rae had
committed suicide on January 19, 1845. They also found James Alexander
Forbes, British vice-consul, on the company's premises. According to the
Hudson'' s Bay Company in San Francisco 253
latter 's letter to McLoughlin, dated San Francisco, January 21, 1845, Rae
had left the establishment in his charge. Rae also left two letters^^:
A. No. I Yerba Buena, i8th January 1845 to all whom it may concern I hereby
declare that I have got myself into difficulty through the intrigue and malice of others,
but that I have never intentionally wronged the Hudson's Bay Coy. a single farthing,
that their property will be squandered, books destroyed, and no outstanding debts
appear remg. after I am no more I am satisfied of, but this the Company ought to blame
themselves for as they have entirely neglected the Calefa. trade in not sending Vessels
here to receive the Returns at the time they were collected. This is truth, so help me
God. (Sd.) W G. Rae.
No. 2. The amount of property I should estimate in Furs, Hides & Tallow at twenty
four thousand dollars $24,000
Cash & Goods eight thousand 8,000
House & Debts sixteen thousand 16,000
Total forty eight thousand Dollars $48,000
I am certain the amount is greater than this, but the whole will be lost to the Hud-
son's Bay Coy. through the intrigue of Mr. Ridley, Mr. Hinckly, Mr. Spear, and I believe
the Foreigners in this Country.^* Let them take care of my unfortunate (or unhappy)
family ( till they are sent to the Columbia to their friends and that is all I ask— may God
bless & protect them, sincerely wishes (Sg.) W. G. Rae Yerba Buena 20th Jany. 1845.
Rae's suicide created a great deal of speculation among the inhabitants of
Yerba Buena and Monterey as to its impelling motive. A great variety of
reasons ranging from domestic to political were adduced as well as business
difficulties. All, however, agreed that heavy drinking was a factor in the
case.^° McLoughlin reported the death to London in a letter dated July 19,
1845. He reviewed all of the possible motives except the domestic, which
apparently Forbes did not touch upon in his letter, and concluded that the
fear of expropriation of the Company property because of Rae's sale of
ammunition and arms to Alvarado in his unsuccessful revolt against Gov-
ernor Micheltorena was at the bottom of it.^^ To this he added that he feared
that the lack of communications and instructions either from London or
from himself might well have been a contributing factor.^^ Thomas O.
Larkin, U. S. consul at Monterey, reported at the time to the state depart-
ment that the suicide resulted mainly from the part Rae had taken in the
revolution. Besides the sale of arms, he had been present at Santa Teresa
where the insurgents had an initial success.^^
It was mid-December 1845 before McLoughlin could despatch a vessel
(the Vancouver) to San Francisco. Dugald Mactavish went on her and
closed up the business while the vessel went to Honolulu and returned. ^^
He sold the building to Melius and Howard for $5000. The total loss on the
establishment proved to be only £326 5s 2d. This did not include $10,000 in
accounts receivable.^° There should have been some recovery on these
accounts. Although Forbes complained the previous October that it was
impossible to make any collections,^^ within six months after the property
,2 54 Calif ornia Historical Society Quarterly
was sold the American flag was raised and an era of growth and prosperity-
set in for Yerba Buena and the Bay Region.®^
The purchase by Melius & Howard of the Hudson's Bay Company's
headquarters, considered the best structure in town, enabled them to start
their mercantile career at the beginning of this flood tide under very favor-
able conditions. They became, and continued to be the leading mercantile
house, and did a large and expanding business, establishing branches in Sacra-
mento, Los Angeles and San Jose after the discovery of gold.®^ Meantime
in the two years before this event, the firm had prospered sufficiently to
command unlimited credit with their eastern correspondents. Melius and
Howard sold out the business in 1850 and retired to care for large individual
fortunes, amassed since acquisition of the site. Howard retained the build-
ing, which was transformed into the United States Hotel and rented for
$36,000 a year. This state of affairs only lasted for a year as the building was
burned in the great fire of May 4, 1 85 1.
NOTES
43. Bancroft, History of California, op. cit., IV, 218; on p. 220, n. 30, he transcribes
Simpson's letter of Jan. 12, 1842, to General Vallejo, in which Simpson denies Sutter's
(whom he calls "Mr. Sutor") report that the H. B. Co. would lend its support to un-
friendly measures against Governor Alvarado or Vallejo. See especially Simpson to Sir
J. H. Pelly, March 10, 1842, in Am. Hist. Rev., op. cit., pp. 88-89, giving his opinion of
General Vallejo, between whom and Alvarado he suspected that there was enmity.
This varies considerably from Simpson's account of Vallejo in his Narrative, I, 309-310.
44. See Simpson, Narrative, I, 328, 330, for visit to Francisco Guerrero y Palomares
at the mission. The mission, upon the abolition of the ayuntamiento in May 1839, was
nominally head town of the partido or district, and Guerrero became juez de paz
(justice of the peace) or alcalde. His term was continued through 1841. (Bancroft,
op. cit., Ill, 705-706; IV, 666-6"].)
45. Simpson's Narrative, I, 343.
46. lde?n, p. 197; the ship was the Fama, belonging to Alpheus B. Thompson. Rae
had to make use of the vessel in 1845 to ship hides to Oahu. She was wrecked in Feb.
1846 near Santa Barbara. (D. Mackenzie Brown, China Trade Days in California (Berke-
ley, 1947), pp. 45, 48-49.)
47. Letters, III, xxiv. McLoughlin accompanied Simpson on this tour; no hint of dis-
agreement respecting the San Francisco post manifested itself between the two men
until they were in Honolulu.
48. For Francis Ermatinger's call on Sir George, see Simpson's Narrative, I, 350-52;
also, Simpson to McLoughlin, March 7, 1842, ". . . Mr. Ermatinger, both while at
Vancouver & Monterey, having repeatedly said that there was no field south of the
Umpqua, where a party of more than 10 or 12 trappers in number can be employed to
advantage {Letters, II, 287).
49. Simpson's Narrative, I, 387-88. 50. Letters, II, xvii.
51. ldem,xvn-\vm. 52. /<ie77Z, pp. 266-67.
53. Douglas had recommended in his letter to McLoughlin, March 23, 1841, that:
"A gentleman with two men would suffice to manage the internal affairs of the establish-
Hudson'' s Bay Company in San Francisco 255
ment [at San Francisco] ; another gentleman would be required to attend to the outdoor
business . . . and at times ... at Monterey to clear vessels, and settle matters amicably
with the officers of the customs . . . {Letters, II, 255) . See note 15 above.
54. See note 32 above.
$$. In his letter to Gov. et al, Oct. 14, 1839, Douglas had applied the term "unaccount-
able repugnance" to describe the official Calif ornian attitude toward licensing the H. B.
Co.'s vessels (Letters, II, 206), echoing Douglas' and Capt. Brotchie's experiences the
previous year in connection with the "vexatious delays and unjust exactions, to which,
all trading vessels are exposed within the Ports of Calefomia." (Douglas to Gov. et al,
Oct. 18, 1838, Letters, I, 249-51.)
$6. See Rae's letter of Oct. 14, 1841 (transcribed earlier in this paper), par. 4, which
speaks of the lack of rain and failure of the crops. John Bidwell described the next
season of 1842-43 as very dry, and that that of 1843-44 was the driest ever known, almost
rainless (Bancroft, op. cit., IV, 387, n. 14, citing Bidwell). All contracts were affected,
including Sutter's annual (1843) payment in wheat to the Russians, as part of his pur-
chase price of Ross.
57. Douglas had informed the Gov. et al on Oct. 14, 1839, that the Colorado River
area abounded with beaver, "particularly near its discharge into the Gulf of Calefornia"
{Letters, II, 225). Further, he reported to McLoughlin on March 23, 1841, that the com-
pany's hunters could be "licensed to hunt in all parts of the uncultivated frontier" {idem,
p. 252). Whereupon McLoughlin wrote to George Simpson about the excellent pros-
pects attendant upon their hunters being "able to hunt the entrance of the Rio Calorado,
known by the name of Red Bay by the Calefornians where Beaver is said to be more
abundant than I ever heard mentioned in any place of the same extent on the East side
of the Mountains" {idem, p. 258) .
58. Variations in the spelling of Shasta are described by Alice Bay Maloney, "Shasta
was Shatasla in 1814," this Quarterly, XXIV (Sept. 1945), 229-34- Trinidad Bay was to
be used as an assembly point where H. B. Co.'s "southern trappers" could be met by the
Cadboro, carrying goods and traps, to enable Laframboise's men to make a fresh hunt
before coming back to Fort Vancouver; the plan fell through in 1838 (Douglas to Gov.
et al, Oct. 18, 1838, Letters, I, 251-54).
59. Capt. John Wilson and James Scott were Scotsmen, shipmasters, and otter hunters,
whose partnership dated from 1839 to 1847. Accounts of their lives are given in Ban-
croft's Pioneer Register. Of Wilson he says: "There were few of the old pioneers better
known or more respected than Captain Wilson." Simpson speaks of Wilson and Scott
in his Narrative, I, '^'j6-']'j, and notes the fact that A'Irs. Wilson, Ramona Carrillo, was the
widow of Capt. Romualdo Pacheco. McLoughlin informed Simpson on March 7, 1842,
that "Captn. Willson and Mr. Scott . . . carry on a good business on their own capital
and are doing well . . ." {Letters, II, 284).
60. McLoughlin to Simpson, March i, 1842, Letters, II, 272-76.
61. Simpson to McLoughlin, March 3, 1842, ideTn, pp. 277, 278-79.
62. Douglas, in his letter to McLoughlin, March 23, 1841, had summed up his recom-
mendations for California thus: "... a vessel having free access to all parts of the coast,
with a small establishment in San Francisco, and after a beginning is made there, if,
found expedient, in other Ports further South, particularly at San Pedro, where there
is a valuable export of Produce.
"We would of course at the same time, turn attention to our own peculiar avocation
of Beaver Hunting and test the reputed fur wealth of Red Bay." {Letters, II, 256.)
63. McLoughlin's defense was that Douglas, a few months previous to Rae's arrival
in San Francisco, had made "a conditional bargain with the Owner . . . and if I did not
wait till you came, it is because the nature of the business would not admit of delay, and
256 California Historical Society Quarterly
1 considered it of little consequence to the Company, if it was necessary to do so, by
whom it was done, provided it was well done." (McLoughlin to Simpson, March 7,
1842, Letters, II, 282-83.) Some four years before (Oct. 18, 1838), Douglas had warned
the Gov. et al that "amid the growing relations of this District untried contingencies
may demand the application of instant and vigorous remedies . . . [which] were in-
fluenced, by sounder motives, than the mere rage of innovation." (Letters, I, 236.)
64. Letters, II, 62, n. 2. A discussion of the situation is given in Simpson to McLough-
lin, March i, 1842, ibid., II, 266, par. 8; and McLoughlin to Gov. et al, July 19, 1845, ibid.,
III, 82-83.
6$. McLoughlin to Gov. et al, Oct. 31, 1842, Letters, II, 75, where he informs them
that when the Valley field was beached for repairs in Puget Sound, a seam of seven feet
was discovered to have been left uncaulked. Rae (Oct. 14, 1841, par. 19, transcribed
above) complained of spoilage on another vessel, the Wave, chartered by the company
for a specific trip; McLoughlin, however, said that the shoes bought by the company
in London were of inferior make, anyway, saying that they were ". . . flimsy . . . tak-
ing in water at every pore" (A^cLoughlin to Gov. et al, Oct. 31, 1842, Letters, II, 69),
and succeeded in persuading the committee to make their purchase from another Lon-
don firm {idem, p. 306) .
66. McLoughlin to Gov. et al, Aug. 19, 1842, Letters, II, 63.
67. A portion of this paragraph from its beginning to the words ". . . sterling per
hide," is quoted, with corrections in punctuation, by the Gov. et al in their letter to
McLoughlin dated Sept. 27, 1843 {Letters, II, 314).
68. For ship arrivals in the ports of Upper California, see Bancroft, op. cit., IV, 339-40,
wherein (n. 17) he lists 39 vessels "constituting the California fleet in 1842." Five be-
longed to the U. S. Pacific squadron. Of the others, "only seven are shown by the
records to have brought cargoes this year. . . ." Receipts at the custom house are said to
have shown a falling-off of one-third from the receipts of the previous year. As to the
latter, the same authority lists 46 vessels for 1841, and gives custom-house receipts as
amounting to $101,161 (/W^tw, p. 209, n. 11).
69. Occupation of Monterey by Commodore Thomas Ap Catesby Jones and his two
ships, the United States and the Cyane, lasted only Oct. 19-21, 1842. Bancroft, idem, pp.
300 ff., especially pp. 304-11.
70. Letters, II, Si. 71. IdeTn, pp. lo^-ioj.
72. In McLoughlin to Gov. et al, Nov. 15, 1843, Letters, II, 122-23, the case for a close
connection between Oahu and California, to the advantage of the latter's trade, is
restated. See also ideTn, p. 140, where McLoughlin says that the Gov. et al can "see from
Mr. Pierces (of the House of Pierce & Brewer of Woahoo) letter in the Congress report,
now sent you, how much he estimated the Calefornia Trade, and with what jealousy,
he views what we have done, which is a proof of its value." The next year (July 4,
1844) McLoughlin suggested to the Gov. et al that provisioning of a possible British
naval station at Oahu would "afford an outlet for the produce of this Country [Columbia
District] and Calefornia would supply the beef." {Letters, idem, p. 201.) See also George
Simpson's praise of conditions in Hawaii, Narrative, I, 287-90, 139-42.
73. See paragraphs 6 and 7 of the first letter of Rae's transcribed in the present series.
74. Other traders shared Rae's difficulties. In his resume for 1843, Bancroft {op. cit.,
IV, 375-76) speaks of the fear among Mexican revenue officers that "the Boston ships
would abandon the trade altogether, so difficult had it become to obtain cargoes of
produce, to collect debts. . . ."
75. For conditions at the Umpqua post, see Douglas to Simpson, March 18, 1838,
Letters, I, 282.
76. Letters, III, xxv-vi, n. 5. As Simpson had expressed it, "The more I look into the
Hudson'' s Bay Company in San Francisco 257
nature and character of the California business . . . the more I am convinced of the
expediency of winding it up without delay. . . ." (Simpson to McLoughlin, March 7,
1842, Letters, 11, 286.)
77. Letters, II, 194-96. McLoughlin says he had not heard from Rae since May 1843.
Rae had, however, not been altogether silent, for in my collection is a photostat of a
letter he wrote to William Smith, London, on Nov. 23, 1843, from Yerba Buena, saying
that he had drawn at 30 days sight on the Gov. et al in favor of Henry Dalton for £455,
and requesting them to honor it. Dalton, a pioneer of that year, was an Enghsh trader
from Lima. According to Larkin, writing in 1845, he was a man of property and local
influence, whose wife was the daughter of A. V. Zamorano, making Dalton a brother-in-
law of Gen. J. M. Flores, last of the Mexican governors of California. (Bancroft, op. cit.,
n, 773-74-)
78. The want of a vessel is restated by McLoughlin in his letter to Archibald Barclay
(sec'y H. B. Co.), dated Nov. 25, 1844, Letters, III, 65-66.
79. See note 17 above, for Pelly. George Traill Allan, a Scotsman, born ca. 18 10,
entered the service of the H. B. Co. in 1830. From 1834-35 ^o 1841-42, he served as a
clerk at Ft. Vancouver, shortly afterwards being sent to Honolulu, to succeed Archibald
Simpson as joint agent with Pelly. For biog. note, see Letters, II, 383-84.
80. McLoughlin to Gov. et al, July 19, 1845, Letters, III, 81. Cj. McLoughlin to Sir
J. H. Pelly (private letter), Jan. 6, 1845, saying, "As it would lose too much time at this
season to bring the Vessel [Columbia] up here to Load with Lumber— she proceeds in
Ballast to Oahu for Salt and Sugar on the way she will call at S. Francisco to Deliver
a Letter to Chief Trader Rae instructing him to Wind up the Hudson Bay Companys
affairs in Calefornia as soon as possible."
81. Quoted in Letters, III, xxvi (continuation of note 5) .
82. McLoughlin to Gov. et al, July 19, 1845, Letters, III, 83.
83. Rae's two communications are transcribed from Letters, III, 78, notes i and 2.
84. Robert T. (or J. or F.) Ridley was an English sailor and clerk, who begins to
appear in Larkin's books in Jan, 1840. He was in command of Sutter's Sacramento River
launch and preceded (1841) John Bidwell as Sutter's agent at Fort Ross. He acted as
clerk for Nathan Spear and Rae. (Bancroft, op. cit., IV, 668, and V, 695; see also Letters,
III, 78, n. 3, and 79.)
William Sturgis Hinckley, a native of Massachusetts, was a sometime shipmaster,
supercargo and trader between the U. S. and Honolulu, a confidential friend of J. B.
Alvarado, popular with the Calif ornians, and, in 1845-46, captain of the port of San
Francisco after having served as alcalde. He was associated in business with Spear and
Leese. Hinckley became a Mexican citizen in 1842; his death occurred in June 1846.
(Bancroft, op. cit.. Ill, 785-86.)
Boston-born Nathan Spear made voyages to the Sandwich Islands in 18 19, 1823
(touching at Monterey), and in 1829. By 1832 he was back in Monterey as a member of
Zamorano's Compaiiia Extranjera, organized for the defense of the capital. Thereafter
he was a storekeeper at Monterey, and owned a lighter operating to Santa Cruz. In 1836,
came his association in San Francisco with Hinckley and Leese, mentioned above; but
they fell out over profits. Spear continued at Montgomery and Clay streets, adding
another vessel to his produce fleet. William H. Davis was his nephew and clerk. Spear
died in San Francisco in 1849 at the age of 47. (Bancroft, op. cit., V, 730.)
85. Letters, III, xxviii; Bancroft, op. cit., IV, 593. William Sinclair, a young lad who
had been sent to aid Rae in the store and who assisted Mrs. Rae at her husband's death,
himself committed suicide on Oct. 30, 1899, after filling various positions with the com-
pany. Letters, III, 81, and 320-21 (biog. note) .
86. McLoughlin to Gov, et al, July 19, 1845, Letters, III, 77. Rae went to the rcvolu-
258 California Historical Society Quarterly
tionists' camp only to observe, not as one of their number; ". . . in the same manner,"
said McLoughlin, "as many others did who had seen the tyrannical and brutal conduct
of the Mexican soldiers towards the Calefornians and Residents in the Country. I pre-
sume however," McLoughlin adds, "that Mr. Rae went in feeling with the Calefornians."
87. Idem, p. 81.
88. Bancroft, idem, p. 594. See also "Documentary," this Quarterly, V (Sept. 1926),
299, James Buchanan, sec'y of state, Oct. 17, 1845, to Larkin, quoting the latter's despatch
of July 10, 1845: ". . . Mr. Rae . . . furnished the Californians with arms and money
in October and November last, to enable them to expel the Mexicans from the
country. . . ."
89. McLoughlin to Gov. et al, Nov. 20, 1845, Letters, III, 149; see also, "Documentary,"
this Quarterly, V (Sept. 1926), 303-304, Larkin to Buchanan, April 18, 1846, informing
the sec'y of state about Rae's suicide, and quoting (p. 304) Dugald Mactavish as saying
that he had "orders to ship such hides or Furs as he may find in the Company's house at
San Francisco . . . and per next Vessel return to the Oregon with the Body of the late
Agent, his widow and children." The news of Rae's death spread along the coast. On
Jan. 31, 1845, John C. Jones, merchant and shipowner, wrote to his brother-in-law and
fellow merchant, Alpheus B. Thompson: "News has just reached Monterrey . . . that
Mr. Rea at Yuerba Buena had blowed his brains out with a pistol, horrible, horrible."
(Brown, op. cit., p. 44.) For correspondence in connection with Mactavish's San Fran-
cisco assignment— viz., some hides that had been shipped for Rae, supposedly to San
Francisco but carried on to Santa Barbara, near which the vessel was wrecked— see ide?n,
pp. 46 ff (Mactavish to Thompson, May 12, 1846; and Thompson to same [1846]).
Thompson, extremely annoyed, said he would report to McLoughlin Mactavish's con-
duct in the affair.
90. Letters, III, xxix. It will be remembered that George Simpson had stated in his
letter to McLoughlin on March i, 1842, quoted above, that ". . . indeed I should think
33/4 p. cent prompt payment, on the debts that may be then outstanding would be their
full value" (Letters, II, 268). Knowledge of past performances on the coast showed the
uselessness of delaying settlement of accounts. For example, old debts had been inherited
by the H. B. Co. when it took over the North West Co. : one of $850 from Gov. P. V. Sola,
owing since 18 16; and another, of $3,756, from J. M. Estudillo, representing "Sundries"
left for sale in his charge, (McLoughlin to Gov. et al, Nov. 14, 1827, Letters, I, 54.)
91. Bancroft, op. cit., IV, 593, n. 13.
92. This was the site which Simpson in his Narrative, I, 283-84, had called the "pretty
little bay of Yerba Buena whose shores are doubtless destined, under better auspices, to
be the site of a flourishing town. . . ."
93. Bancroft, op. cit., V, 679 (information on buildings in blocks 18 and 19). See also
Gertrude Howard Whitwell, "William Davis Merry Howard," this Quarterly, XXVII
(June 1948), 105 If; and Davis, loc. cit.
Dr. Edward Turner Bale, Incorrigible Calif ornio
By Dean Albertson
WHEN His Majesty's Ship Harriet ran aground off Monterey in
1837, one of the few survivors to get ashore from the wreckage
was Dr. Edward Turner Bale. Bom at London, England, in 181 1,
Bale had been educated for the medical profession, receiving his commission
in 1836 as the Harriet's surgeon; the following year he made the trip around
the horn to California.^ However unfortunate was the end of the Harriet,
it could not have happened at a more propitious time for Dr. Bale, as Manuel
Alva, the leading physician in the pueblo of Monterey, had recently fallen
from favor in an unsuccessful attempt to overthrow Gov. Juan B. Alvarado.
Bale, therefore, settled into the pleasant life of the Mexicans at the capital of
Alta California.
Monterey in 1837 was a sprawling little settlement of adobe houses, whose
contact with the parent nation or the rest of the world was made only when
foreign whalers and traders put into port. The ranchos surrounding the
town were well-stocked and easily cultivated, leaving ample time for their
owners to enjoy life. In such an atmosphere Dr. Bale's foible, his great thirst,
developed to such a point that it became manifest on the ledgers of the
pueblo's storekeeper, Thomas O. Larkin. The doctor ran up bills for several
pesos worth of brandy, wine and cigars at a time. In a short while the town
was discussing his tremendous consumption of grog, and he was forced to
more prudent measures of picking up his liquor at the rear entrance of Lar-
kin's establishment.^
Notwithstanding his failing for the bottle. Dr. Bale managed to carry on
a certain amount of professional work, disconcerting as some of his duties
may have been. In June 1838, for example, he examined the body of one
Ortiz and reported that the demise had been caused by apoplexy as a direct
result of excessive drinking.^ There were people who considered that com-
pensation was due the doctor only if he achieved desired results. During the
early summer of 1839, he had been giving treatment to the wife of Jose M.
Amador, and when the patient died despite his efforts. Bale was forced to
sue her bereaved husband for his 1 50-peso fee.* Accordingly, to keep himself
supplied with his own necessities. Bale engaged in commerce in a small way.*
By the end of 1839, he had become a familiar figure in northern California.
His intelligence was unassailed, and his professional ability respected; but he
was quarrelsome, and there were few who could abide that side of his nature.
However, Doiia Maria Ignacia Soberanes, a niece of Capt. Salvador Vallejo,
found otherwise, and, upon Bale's making profession of his belief in Catholi-
cism and applying for citizenship papers, they were married.^ Don Salvador
259
i6o Calif ornia Historical Society Quarterly
interposed with his brother, Gen. Mariano G. Vallejo, to obtain for Bale a
grant of land in Napa Valley north of Sonoma. Captain Vallejo assured the
doctor that his grant would be confirmed by Governor Alvarado (a nephew
of General Vallejo), so Bale rode up to his land and constructed an adobe
house upon it'' although the actual residence of the newly-wed couple was
at Monterey, the scene of his practice. Despite this assumption of marital re-
sponsibility, Bale's habits changed little.®
In 1 840, Governor Alvarado, weary of the insults and lack of discipline
among the foreign residents of the country, issued orders to have the offend-
ers concentrated for deportation. The success of the coup d'etat which had
placed him in the capital had been due in large part to the efforts of many of
these same foreigners, but their disregard for California law and their social
familiarity with the caste-conscious Mexicans left but one solution. In April,
a group of forty-six Americans and Englishmen was marched to Monterey.
Isaac Graham, William Chard and James Coppinger, who had proven them-
selves unassimilable, were among them; foreigners such as Thomas O. Lar-
kin, Abel Stearns, Timothy Murphy, and Dr. Edward Bale, who had made
an effort to learn Spanish and otherwise fit themselves into the customs of
the country, were not molested; and two days after the Mexican bark J oven
Guipuzcoana had sailed for San Bias with the banished aliens aboard, the
doctor served as one of the hosts at a fiesta given to entertain the officers of
the visiting ship Don Quixote.^
Bale had been acting for some time as medical examiner for the armed
forces.^^ On May 1 1, 1840, General Vallejo appointed him surgeon-in-chief
of the Mexican army at a stipend of twenty-six pesos per month. His new
duties involved little more work than before, as he could examine men in the
San Francisco Bay presidios on his frequent trips to and from the Napa Val-
ley rancho;^^ so he kept up his private practice, being in attendance upon
Mrs. Larkin for an unspecified ailment later that year.^^
In December 1 840, Dr. Bale approached Larkin to see if he could rent one
of the shacks near the latter's home for the purpose of storing and dispensing
medicinal suppUes. Larkin was willing to lease the place for that purpose,
but, being aware of Bale's somewhat inconsistent manner of doing things,
he warned him that the room was to be put to no other use. Soon after Bale
had deposited his medicines, Larkin found it necessary to leave Monterey for
a few days, but before leaving he cautioned his wife to watch Bale and see
that he obeyed the contract.^^ Larkin left on December 1 8, and shortly after-
wards one of the servants informed Mrs. Larkin that Bale was preparing the
room as a cantina for the sale of some of his medicinal supplies of high
alcoholic content, et cetera. Mrs. Larkin went immediately to Bale and com-
manded him to cease his preparations. Bale replied that he would sell any-
thing he chose in the room he had rented, and stalked off to find David
Spence,^* the judge of Monterey, who advised Bale to obey Mrs. Larkin.
Dr. Edward Turner Bale 2 6 1
This only irritated the doctor; he told Spence that he would obtain what he
felt to be justice from the governor of California if no one else would give
him satisfaction.^^ His excellency's permission was obtained to use the room
for any purpose he wanted. When Spence enquired from which governor
Bale had received this license, Bale replied that he of course had seen the only
governor he recognized, Juan B. Alvarado. Alvarado, however, because of
a recent illness, had invested his powers in Acting-Governor Manuel Jimeno
Casarin, and Spence told Bale that only the orders of the latter were heeded
at the juzgado. All Bale's arguments ended simply in his being told by Spence
that if one real of whisky was sold, the doctor would find himself in prison.
Upon Bale's threat to do Spence bodily injury, the judge ordered him to pre-
sent himself at the juzgado under arrest.^®
Two and a half hours later, Bale was released and Spence wrote to Gume-
sindo Flores, military commander of the port, explaining the events leading
up to the court action and stating that he had not been aware that Bale, as
surgeon of the Mexican army, enjoyed military exemption from civil im-
prisonment, and that consequently he, Spence, had released him to the juris-
diction of the military authorities.^^ Three days later, Spence sent another
letter to Casarin. He reiterated the facts of Bale's arrest and release, and ad-
vised the acting governor that since the orders of Alvarado as governor had
no effect in court, Spence would be pleased to honor Alvarado's signature
as a private citizen; however, inasmuch as he had seen Bale leaving the ex-
governor's house and had known that Alvarado was Bale's advocate, he could
not proceed on his own authority, nor could Bale's disrespect to a judge and
an acting-governor be overlooked.^^
On the same day, Casarin addressed a letter to Comandante Flores stating
that it was most expedient for the maintenance of social order that Bale's
want of respect be not overlooked. He ordered the comandante to teach the
army surgeon a lesson.^^ Flores started the proceedings down the chain of
command on the twenty-second by ordering Rafael Pinto, the adjutant of
the peace, to make an investigation of the charges against Bale; Pinto, in turn,
appointed cavalry officer Jacinto Rodriguez to act as attorney in the prose-
cution.^° When the summary court had been convened the following day,
Pinto and Rodriguez went to Mrs. Larkin's house to take her testimony in
the matter. She again decried the sale of intoxicating beverages on her prop-
erty, and cited the contract between Bale and her absent husband. She sug-
gested that corroboration for her statements could be obtained from Santiago
Stokes, alleging that he had overheard the terms of the contract at the time
Larkin explained it to her. Stokes was then ordered to appear and he sus-
tained Mrs. Larkin's testimony.^^
The roving court then moved on to Bale's house where he had been under
detention. The doctor placed his right hand on the pommel of his sword,
and, on his word of honor, promised the nation to tell the truth. Then he
262 Calif ornia Historical Society Quarterly
claimed that he had not only told Larkin that he intended to sell other things
beside medicines in the rented room, but that he had also received permission
to do so from Judge Spence. When Mrs. Larkin had showed such displeasure
and the judge had reneged, he had procured Alvarado's acquiescence to the
cantina.^2 yj^g court dwelt long on the matter of Alvarado's permission, for
only Bale recognized him as governor. The fact that all civil and military
authority was subordinate to Jimeno Casarin made Bale's position untenable.
Bale's testimony concluded the trial. The papers of the case were turned
over to Comandante Flores on December 24, and he immediately dispatched
them to General Vallejo at Sonoma. On January 4, General Vallejo's verdict
was returned ordering that Bale be placed under arrest for eight days, not as
punishment for attempting to turn the Larkin premises into a tavern nor for
breaking his contract with the owner, but for his disrespectful behavior
toward the political authorities of the country.^^ By the end of January 1 841,
Bale was free again to carry on life as he chose, for on the 31st Sir James
Douglas records in his journal that Bale came aboard the Hudson's Bay Com-
pany's ship Columbia with the customs officials to take tea with a former
countryman. During the course of the conversation. Bale invited Sir James
and the other officers of the Columbia to a dance which was to be given that
evening at the pueblo. The Britisher refused, explaining that he would not
think of coming to such a ball without an explicit invitation. Bale told him
that it would be quite proper on his invitation as he was to be the master of
ceremonies, but Sir James still felt hesitancy in accepting. He later congratu-
lated himself on his insight when he discovered that Bale, himself, had not
even been invited.^*
In March 1 84 1 , Dr. Bale was called to examine a neighbor, Miguel Filoza,
whom he found to have been seriously wounded in the neck by a blunt in-
strument. Bale administered aid, but it was obvious that the man would die,
and the following day Filoza succumbed from the effects of his wounds.
Bale reported the matter to the juez de paz, Simeon Castro, to whom he again
presented himself on March 6 with an eight-peso debenture from the late
Filoza for medical assistance. At the same time, the doctor claimed an addi-
tional fifteen pesos, which was allowed him by the court from Filoza's
estate.^^
The year before. General Vallejo had granted Bale legal permission to
occupy the adobe he had constructed on his Napa Valley land. He was also
pasturing stock on the property and had, besides, become fast friends with
his neighbor, George Yount. Thus it was no great surprise when Mexican
California legally embraced the doctor as one of its own on March i, 1841,^®
and, two weeks later, the re-instated Governor Alvarado granted him com-
plete possession of the four-league rancho in the northern end of Napa Val-
ley.^^ Yount and his Caymus Rancho occupied the lower end. Bale's land had
had various Indian names— Huilac Nama, Caligolmana, Kolijohnanok. To
Dr. Ednxard Turner Bale 26}
the wonderment of his neighbors, he redesignated it Carne Humana.^® Near
its center stood the house, 76 x 18 feet, around which he had planted fruit
trees.^^ Like Yount he permitted scores of Indians to settle on his property,
tend his stock, and till enough of the land to feed themselves, with the result
that during the first years of his absentee ownership, and with no overseer
in charge of the Indians, the farm output was meager.
In July 1 84 1, non-payment of a debt brought Bale again into court. The
preceding month he had made a contract with a Frenchman named Ricardo
to sell the latter some mules; the mules were alleged to have been paid for but
had never been received by Ricardo. Consequently he sued Bale for the loss
incurred by the lack of mules at the rate of one peso per day for each beast.
It was understood that if Ricardo won his case, this rate should continue until
the animals were delivered. The military commander of Monterey wrote to
General Vallejo setting forth the issues in the case, and suggesting— success-
fully, it appeared— that the amount owed Ricardo he deducted from Bale's
wages until the debt was cleared, for, two months later, a notation was en-
closed with the general's disbursement saying that nothing had been remitted
for the surgeon. ^^
These duties of chastisement, incumbent upon General Vallejo as com-
mander of the northern frontier, placed a great strain on the family bonds
between his part of the clan and Bale's; nor was the tension diminished when,
in January 1842, upon the general's sending a messenger to Bale (then at
Yerba Buena) for some adhesive tape to treat a hip, bruised while lassoing
horses, a mustard plaster was sent by mistake. This aggravated the bruise into
an open sore and confined the general to his bed.^^
In 1 842, Dr. Bale appHed for and was granted a town lot in Monterey. The
following year he resigned his commission in the Mexican army and in June
made a trip to Napa Valley with William A. Streeter, to induce the latter
to purchase part of his rancho. But Streeter pointed out that it would be
foolish for him to spend money on land when it could so easily be obtained
by grant from the government. Bale then advised him to investigate the re-
cently vacated Bodega region; he, himself, returned by way of Sonoma and,
while there, made his ironic contribution of fifty pesos to the Mexican gov-
ernment for the erection of a municipal jail.^^
The awkward situation between Bale and his wife's relatives finally rup-
tured into open hostility during the month of February 1 844. Capt. Salva-
dor Vallejo alleged that the doctor had circulated rumors impugning his
veracity, and he had Bale publicly whipped at Sonoma. Shortly afterward
the doctor went to Monterey. There he was jailed pending trial. ^^ On Feb-
ruary 1 5 he penned a note from his cell to the juez de paz, insulting the judges
of the Sonoma district as not being qualified to handle his case, denouncing
his imprisonment and contemning "such polite makers of the law as S. Val-
lejo." He concluded with a request to be allowed trial in Monterey instead
264 California Historical Society Quarterly
of being returned for judgment to the Vallejo-dominated Sonoma court.^*
Two days later, Jacob P. Leese, the judge of the first district of Sonoma,
wrote to the Monterey officials that he was not embarrassed to concede that
his court did not have the authority to try Bale's case and that it would be
a great favor if they could manage to arraign him at Monterey.'^ If Bale was
sentenced by the Monterey court, the penalty must have been light, for he
was again in trouble at Sonoma in May when Juan Miranda and Feliz Ber-
reyesa brought suit against him on unspecified charges. The outcome of
this action is unknown.^^
The rancor between Dr. Bale and Don Salvador Vallejo emerged again
during the month of July 1 844. An armed truce seems to have existed be-
tween the two men in the interim, as they held a rodeo together with some
of the other Napa Valley rancheros. In separating Bale's stock from that
belonging to Vallejo, the vaqueros hired by Cayetano Juarez, George Yount
and Bale caused a stampede and Bale lost ten or twelve animals.^^ Shortly
afterward, elections of militia officers were held at Sonoma, and Bale came
riding into town accompanied by fourteen mounted foreigners. As they pro-
ceeded down the street. Bale saw Don Salvador walking with Cayetano
Juarez. The doctor drew a gun and, when at close range, fired twice, one of
the shots grazing Vallejo's chest, the wadding from the second striking
Juarez in the jaw.^^ Immediately, men standing nearby ran toward the spot.
Bale fled across the plaza into the house of Alcalde Jacob Leese. The alcalde
barred his doors and windows, but his efforts to save the doctor from vio-
lence were useless, for a band of Suisun Indians led by Solano broke in and
dragged Bale from his hiding-place. They bound him and his companions
hand and foot and prepared to take them to the encina del castigo (oak of
punishment) for lynching. Leese was locked into one of his own rooms, and
the Indian guards were left with instructions to kill him should he attempt
flight.
Solano was well on the way with his prisoners toward the rustic scaffold
when General Vallejo, at the head of the few soldiers he was able to muster
quickly, caught up with them. Vallejo ordered the Indians to release Bale
and the others to the custody of Sergeant Berreyesa, and they were con-
ducted back to the Sonoma carcel. On their arrival, a heavy pair of leg irons
was attached to Bale and his deposition was taken. This was sent to the new
governor, Manuel Micheltorena. The governor's reply was to order an ex-
peditious conclusion to the entire affair.^®
Meanwhile, word of the fray moved across the countryside to the north
and east where wagon-trains of American immigrants were settling. The
Americans were suspicious of their uncordial Mexican hosts, for both the
newcomers and the Calif ornios knew of the unrest on the Texas border, and
the jailing of a "white man" was an evil omen. On August 4, 1 844, William A.
Richardson wrote to General Vallejo that Theodore Cordua had visited
Dr. Edward Turner Bale 265
Sausalito the day before and had insisted he knew nothing of any story that
immigrants, encamped on the Sacramento River, were intending to remove
Bale forcibly from the Sonoma carcel.*^ But to Bale, still held prisoner on
August 1 2, the story raised hopes that he might be able to go to his daughter
Carolina, for he had received a letter from his friend and neighbor, Ralph
Kilbum, that she had been badly burned when her nightgown caught fire
from a bedside candle. Kilbum requested Bale to tell them what to do, say-
ing that their efforts to alleviate the child's suffering thus far had been limited
to pressing stripped potatoes on the bums.*^
On the night of August 1 5, after retreat had been sounded and the lieu-
tenant in charge of the guardia had retired. Bale called Corporal Juan Eli-
saldi to the prison window and offered to pay him 200 silver pesos or 100
calves if he would not prevent him from escaping. He wanted. Bale said, to
reach Monterey, where he might receive a fair trial. When Elisaldi warned
him that he would be promptly recaptured. Bale replied that once he found
his friends on the Sacramento he would be safe; but the corporal refused to
accept the bribe and, after doubling the guard, went to Sergeant Berreyesa
with the whole story of Bale's attempt to escape.'*^
On August 28, two men from the Sacramento, Don Thomas Cordero*^
and Daniel Sill, were in Yerba Buena discussing the Bale situation with Al-
calde William Hinckley. They warned Hinckley that five foreigners named
Kelsey and one named Merritt had declared that if Bale were not released
soon, they would come down to Sonoma and do it themselves. They added
that forty men on the Sacramento were ready to take arms.** The next day
Hinckley went to Sonoma to tell Jacob Leese what he had heard, and Gen-
eral Vallejo was also informed. The latter insisted that Hinckley make out
a deposition to that effect and Leese was ordered to obtain statements from
those named in Hinckley's deposition. In doing so, Leese offered to give
security for the good behavior of Samuel Kelsey's brother.*^ After the Kel-
seys and several others in their party had certified that the rumors which
Cordua was spreading were false, the affair was officially dropped, but the
mistrust it caused between the Americans and Mexicans was not soon for-
gotten.
Despite the haste ordered by Governor Micheltorena in preparing Bale's
case, the trial did not come up for hearing until the middle of September
(1844). General Vallejo had written to Don Damaso Antonio Rodriguez,
the attorney for the defense, to attend to some other work for him. Finally,
Alcalde Leese wrote to the general on September 14 asking for the return
of Rodriguez to the court in order that the trial might proceed.*^ Meanwhile,
Bale, who had been given partial liberty, had become so unruly as to insult
Leese, the best friend he had in Sonoma; so the alcalde was forced to have
him put back in the calabozo.*^
Lieut. Col. Victor Prudon, a very close friend of Capt. Salvador Vallejo,
2 66 Calif ornia Historical Society Quarterly
had been chosen as prosecuting attorney, and, as had been anticipated, the
case went against Dr. Bale. Gen. M. G. Vallejo immediately dispatched the
ruling to Governor Micheltorena, who wrote back ordering that the case
be dropped completely. In doing so, the governor pointed out that Bale was
a British subject and he did not care to risk any encounter with England at
this time. General Vallejo sent another letter to correct the governor's mis-
taken impression that Bale was not a Mexican citizen. The response was an
order to free the doctor immediately, which led Vallejo to conclude that
Micheltorena's decision had been influenced by his Scotch friend. Dr. Wil-
liam H. McKee.*«
When Dr. Bale was released, he returned to his family, and in December
1 844 he received an alcalde grant from William Hinckley for a 50-vara lot
in Yerba Buena.*^ The events of the past year seemed to have had a somewhat
sobering efl^ect, for during the next few months Bale set about straightening
the confused state of his finances. In April 1845, he acknowledged a debt to
Thomas O. Larkin and promised to pay 273 pesos within five months.^^ At
the same time he began to turn some attention to his Rancho Carne Humana.
James Clyman passed by the Bale place that year and made a vivid note of
its dry desolation and lack of cultivation;^^ however, toward the end of
summer. Bale had begun to run a few sheep on the rancho, and, when his
slaughtering had started, he wrote to Jacob Leese that he would be able to
settle his account also.°^ On September 10, 1845, Bale was issued juridical
possession of the Carne Humana Rancho by Sonoma Alcalde de la Rosa,
Bale's friends Yount and Kilburn witnessing the deed. At that time he was
raising enough food on the land to support the 500 Indians he employed
there.^^ But he did not appear to be interested, as were the other ranchers, in
raising huge herds of stock and growing farm produce on his land, for, the
same month, he sold part of it to William and Henry Fowler and William
Hargrave.^* This supplied him with the cash to construct a water-power
flour mill on the remaining portion. He had built a small grist mill as early
as 1 840, which the Indians had been working without any great amount of
success.^^ The construction work on the new mill was done by a newcomer
to California named Florentine Erwin Kellogg. Bale offered him 600 acres
of the Carne Humana Rancho if he would do the iron work, with the result
that the mill was completed the following year. The original mill wheel, 20
feet in diameter, had cogs made of wood. The millstones were quarried in
the nearby hills, and the rancho's own redwoods furnished flume material
to conduct water to the wheel.^^
The same year (1845), Bale concluded a contract with Ralph Kilburn for
the erection of a saw mill. Kilburn was to receive three-quarters of a league
of land if he would build the mill and run it for ten years at one-half the
profits.^^
Meanwhile, Bale's friend, Nathan Spear, had been paying him a visit at
Dr. Edward Turner Bale 267
the rancho. Upon returning to Yerba Buena he reported to Prefect Fran-
cisco Guerrero that he had discovered a vein of mercury on Bale's land.
Guerrero passed the word through government channels, and penned a
special note to Andres Castillero, the entrepreneur of the famed New Al-
maden quicksilver mine.^^ It is possible that Bale did not know of the deposit
on his property, but it is more probable that he did not take advantage of it
because of other work; in either case, no use was made of the discovery until
after his death.
Nothing is known of Bale's activities during the summer of 1 846 when the
Americans took Sonoma in the Bear Flag Revolt. Edwin Bryant reported
having had breakfast with him at Carne Humana in November, but com-
mented only on the favorable position his mill had among the pine and red-
wood trees.^^
The next year Bale and Leese nearly came to blows over 200 feet of lum-
ber, which, according to Leese, had been contracted for but had not been
delivered; no basis for Leese's allegation was found and Judge Nash fined him
seventy-five cents as court costs.^^
During the summer of the same year (1847), Bale and Kilburn made a
contract with Larkin for 40,000 merchantable clapboards (possibly for use
in the Larkin and Semple subdivisions at Benicia) at $17 per 1000, to be de-
livered at the Napa launch landing in September. Of the proceeds, $200 was
to go to Kilburn as soon as possible; the balance of I480 was to be paid to
Bale in cash, bullock hides and young calves. But the clapboards were never
delivered and Larkin was forced to sue the estate for the money he had paid
the partners.^^ As to the grist mill, no records remain to show the extent of
its success or failure.
In 1 848, Bale sold the saw mill to James Harbin. Kilburn, who wanted to
join the rush to the placers near Sutter's Fort, had been released from his
partnership with Bale by payment of $ 1000.^^ Shortly afterwards, the doctor
himself went to the mines where he contracted a fever from which he never
recovered. In the fall of 1849, realizing that his life was nearly over, he sold
a large part of his rancho to Kilburn in order that his family might not be in
want. On October ninth of that year. Bale died.^^
The incorrigible Californio, Dr. Edward Turner Bale, bore the title of
physician when there were few real doctors in the province, and his name
will always be associated with that profession; but he performed, likewise,
a genuine service as one of the pioneer promoters of industry north of San
Francisco Bay. When his foibles and failings have long been forgotten, Dr.
Bale will still be remembered for his vision in building the famed old mill on
Highway 29.
NOTES
(Unless otherwise stated, all manuscripts cited are in the Bancroft Library, Berkeley.)
2 68 Calif ornia Historical Society Quarterly
1. Calistoga Tribune, July 6, 187 1; H. H. Bancroft, History of California (San Fran-
cisco, 1884-90), IV, 118.
2. Thomas O. Larkin, "Accounts" (MS), I, 140; IV, 11, 97-98.
3. "Monterey Archives" (MS, Recorder's Office, Monterey Co. Court House, Salinas,
Calif.), Ill, 5.
4. Ibid., XVI, 232.
5. Bale to M. G. Vallejo, July 4, 1839, Mariano G. Vallejo, "Documentos para la his-
toria de California" (MS; hereinafter called Vallejo "Docs."), VII, 303.
6. The Calistoga Tribune (as in note i above) gives the year as 1839. Mariano G. Val-
lejo, "Historia de California" (MS; hereinafter called Vallejo "Historia"), IV, 392, gives
improbable date of marriage as 1837.
7. Private land grant, Case No. 47 ND, p. 8. The papers in the land grant cases are filed
in Room 355, main post office building, San Francisco.
8. Larkin, op. cit., I, 72; IV, 234.
9. Thomas J. Famham, Life, Adventures, and Travels in California (New York, 1850),
pp. 95-103.
ID. Vallejo "Docs.," IX, 95, 96.
11. Vallejo "Historia," IV, 392; "Archives of California," Dept. Records (MS), XI,
58-59; Vallejo "Docs.," IX, 231c.
12. Larkin, op. cit., I, 175.
13. Spence to Flores, Dec. 18, 1840, "Monterey Archives" (see note 3 above), XVI,
327-28.
14. Clodomiro Soberanes, "Documentos para la historia de California" (MS), pp.
i6$-66.
i^. Ibid., p. zyi. 16. Ibid., p. 272.
17. Spence to Flores, loc. cit.
18. Spence to Casarin, Dec. 21, 1840, ibid., XVI, 329-30.
19. Casarin to Flores, Dec. 21, 1840, "Archives of California" (see note 11 above), XI,
34-
20. Soberanes, op. cit., pp. 258-59, 262.
21. Ibid., pp. 265-69. James Stokes was an English sailor who arrived in California in
1835 and worked at Monterey as a doctor, druggist, and trader.
22. Ibid., pp. 270-72.
23. M. G. Vallejo to Flores, Jan. 4, 1841, ibid., pp. 274, 278.
24. Sir James Douglas, "Journal" (MS), pp. 69-70.
25. "Monterey Archives," III, 257-58; IV, 380-82.
26. Case No. 47 ND (see note 7 above), pp. 6, 33. George Yount had come to California
from Missouri in 1831 and, five years later, settled on Caymus Rancho in Napa Valley.
27. Eugene B. Drake, Jimeno^s and HartneWs Indexes of Land Concessions from 18^0
to 1846 . . . (San Francisco, 1 861), p. 9.
28. Mrs. Henry D. Fitch, "Dictation" (MS), pp. 2-3; Case No. 47 ND, pp. i, 6.
29. J. N. Bowman and G. W. Hendry, "Spanish Houses in the San Francisco Bay
Region" (MS), p. 356.
30. Ricardo to Vallejo, July 22, 1841, Vallejo "Docs.," X, 219; Flores to Vallejo, July
26, 1841, ibid., X, 234; Abrego to Vallejo, Sept. 23, 1841, ibid., X, 288.
31. Sir George Simpson, An Overland Journey Round the World during the years
1841 and 1842 (Philadelphia, 1847), I, 177.
32. "Monterey Archives," Solares de Monterey, 45; Vallejo "Docs.," XI, 390, 412;
William A. Streeter, "Recollections of Historical Events in California" (MS), 23; Ban-
croft, op. cit., V, 678.
33. Vallejo "Historia," IV, 392; Mildred B. Hoover . . ., Historic Spots in California,
I
Dr. EdiDurd Turner Bale id^
Counties of the Coast Range (Stanford Univ. Press, 1937), p. 284, describes Don Sal-
vador's return from an Indian war and his visit to the Bale home. The warm greeting
between Captain Vallejo and Doiia Ignacia is said to have made the doctor jealous,
whereupon he challenged Vallejo to a duel. Vallejo was one of the finest swordsmen in
the country, and, after quickly disarming the doctor, he proceeded to whip him with
the flat of his sword.
34. "Monterey Archives," XI, 1 346-48.
35. Ibid., XI, 1097. Jacob Leese arrived in California in 1833 and settled at Sonoma in
1 84 1. He was a naturalized Mexican citizen from Ohio and married to General Vallejo's
sister.
36. Vallejo "Docs.," XII, 14. 37. Ibid., p. 70.
38. Vallejo "Historia," IV, 392-94. 39. Idem.
40. Vallejo "Docs.," XII, 69. 41. Ibid., XXXIV, 47.
42. "Vallejo Papers" (MS; Henry E. Huntington Library and Art Gallery, San Ma-
rino), p. 82.
43. Probably Theodore Cordua.
44. Vallejo "Docs.," XII, 88. 45. Ibid., XII, 92-93.
46. "Vallejo Papers" (see note 42 above), p. 91.
47. Ibid., p. 95a.
48. Vallejo "Historia," IV, 395-97, says that Salvador Vallejo swallowed his pride and
led Bale to freedom at Leese's Huichica Rancho, whereupon the doctor fell on his knees
and begged forgiveness of the man who had publicly humiliated him.
49. Alfred Wheeler, Land Titles in San Francisco (San Francisco, 1852), p. 26. The
lot today is on the south side of Sacramento St. between Grant Ave. and Kearny.
50. Vallejo "Docs.," XXXIV, 269.
51. Charles L, Camp, James Clyman, American Frontier sfmm, 1192-1881 (San Fran-
cisco, 1928), p. 171.
52. Thomas Knight, "Statement" (MS; M. H. deYoung Museum, San Francisco, col-
lection of Leese papers and documents), p. 14.
53. Case No. 47 ND, pp. 12-13.
54. lde?n; Henry Fowler, "Stockraising in Napa Valley" (MS), p. 13.
^$. Historic Facts and Fancies, History and Landmarks Section of California Feder-
ated Women's Clubs (n.p., n.d.), pp. 59-61.
^6. IdeTn; Calistoga Tribune, as in note i above.
57. Manuel Castro, "Documentos para la historia de California" (MS), II, 66.
58. Nathan Spear, "Papers" (MS).
59. Edwin Bryant, What I Saw in California (New York, 1848), p. 357.
60. Ernest L. Finley, History of Sonoma County (Santa Rosa, 1937), p. 228.
61. Thomas O. Larkin, "Documents for the History of California" (MS), V, 173; VI,
49; VII, 308.
62. Calistoga Tribune, loc. cit.
63. Case No. 47 ND, p. 38.
Recent Californiana
A Check List of Publications Relating to California
Altrocchi, Julia Ccx)ley
The Spectacular San Franciscans. New York, E. P. Dutton, 1949. 398 p. illus. $4.50.
American Association of University Women. Inyokern-China Lake Branch.
Indian Wells Valley, a Handbook. China Lake, The Association, 1948. 78 p. illus.
Seventy-five cents.
Bank of Martinez
The Seventy-Fifth Anniversary of the Bank of Martinez California. [San Francisco]
Published by the Directors of the Bank of Martinez, 1949. [16] p. illus.
Carr, Harry
Los Angeles, City of Dreams. New York, Grosset & Dunlap, 1949. 403 p. illus. $2.49.
Caughey, John W., ed.
Rushing For Gold. Berkeley, University of CaHfornia Press, 1949. 11 1 p. $2.75 (Pa-
cific Coast Branch American Historical Association. Special Publication No. i )
Dawson, Glen
Santa Fe and the Far West. Los Angeles, Glen Dawson, 1949. $1.50.
DoBiE, J. Frank
The Voice of the Coyote. Boston, Little, Brown, 1949. xx, 386 p. illus. $4.00.
Forbes, Allan and Ralph M. Eastman
Other Yankee Ship Sailing Cards. Boston, State Street Trust Company, C1949. xii,
III p. col. illus. Privately Published.
GiFFEN, Guy and Helen
The Story of Golden Gate Park. San Francisco [Privately Published] 1949. 71 p.
illus., map. $1.00.
Giles, Rosena A.
Shasta County, California, a History. With Map and Illustrations, foreword by Jos.
A. Sullivan. Oakland, Biobooks, 1949. K, 301 p. illus. $15.00.
Goethe, C. M.
"What's In A Name?", Tales, Historical or Fictitious, about in California Gold
Belt Place Names. [Sacramento, Keystone Press, C1949] 202 p. illus.
Hertrich, William
The Huntington Botanical Gardens, 1905-1949: Personal Recollections of William
Hertrich, Curator Emeritus. San Marino, Huntington Library, 1949. 200 p. illus.
$5.00.
Ingram, Robert L.
A Builder and His Family, 1898- 1948; Being the Historical Account of the Contract-
ing, Engineering & Construction Career of W. A. Bechtel. San Francisco, Privately
Printed, 1949. xii, 112 p. illus.
Latin American Village.
California Heritage. El Monte, Calif., La Punta Valley Journal, [1949] 16 plates
(folders) laminated.
LooMis, B. F.
Pictorial History of the Lassen Volcano. Revised by Loomis Museum Association
at Lassen Volcanic National Park, xv, 109 p. illus., maps. $1.75.
Marshall, Thomas C.
Into the Streets and Lanes; The Beginnings and Growth of the Social Work of the
Episcopal Church in Diocese of Los Angeles, 1887- 1947. Philadelphia, Saunders
270
News of the Society 271
Press, 1949. 178 p. illus. $3.00.
Ortega, Luis B.
California Hackamore. Sacramento, News Publishing Co., 1948. 133 p. illus. $5x>o.
Peeples, Samuel Anthony
The Dream Ends in Fury. New York, Harper, 1949. illus. $2.75. [A novel based on
Joaquin Murieta]
ScHMULOwiTz, Nat
The Laws of the Town of San Francisco 1847. With a Fragment by Nat Schmulo-
witz. San Francisco [Greenwood Press] 1949. 7 p., i 1., 8 p. Privately Printed.
Title Insurance and Trust Co.
Pasadena, a Calendar of Events in the Making of a City. Los Angeles, The Company,
>^ CI 949. 14 p. Copies available from the Company, 433 South Spring St., Los Angeles
13, Calif.
The Westerners, Los Angeles Corral.
The Westerners Brand Book [1948] Los Angeles, The Los Angeles Westerners,
CI 949. 175 p. illus. Privately Printed.
White, John R. and Samuel J. Pusateri
Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks. Stanford, Stanford University Press,
1949. 212 p. illus., maps. $3.00.
News of the Society
Gifts Received by the Society
May I, 1949 to July 31, 1949
BOOKS AND PAMPHLETS
From AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF UNIVERSITY WOMEN, INYOKERN-
CHINA LAKE BRANCH-Its: Indian Wells Valley, a Handbook. China Lake, The
Association, 1948.
From MRS. UNA BOYD— Inspiration Letters to August Schilling, San Francisco,
Grabhorn Press, 1932; To August Schilling & George F. Volkmann 1881-19^1. Our
Golden Jubilee. San Francisco, Grabhorn Press, 193 1; Schilling, August, Fifty Years,
San Francisco, 1926.
From MR. ELBERT S. CONNER-Storke, C. A., comp., The English Storkes in
America. [Santa Barbara, News-Press Pub. Co., C1936]
From MR. RALPH H. CROSS-Osborn, Thomas W., comp. Auburn Area Directory,
[Auburn, Auburn Area Chamber of Commerce, 1949] ; Bequette, Albert F., California's
Centennial 1948-19^0, Handbook for Placer County Schools, [Auburn] Placer County
Schools [1948]; Community Methodist Church, Kernville, Calif., Celebrating the ^oth
Anniversary of the Dedication of the Original Church Buildings of Weldon and Kern-
ville Cormnunity Methodist Churches., November 28, 1948, Kernville [The Church,
1948] ; Title Insurance & Guaranty Company, San Francisco, A Century of Title Service,
San Francisco, Recorder-Sunset Press, 1948.
From MR. AUBREY DRURY-TAje Seventy-Fifth Anniversary of the Bank of Mar-
tinez California. San Francisco, Directors of the Bank of Martinez, 1949.
From E. P. DUTTON & CO., INC.-Altrocchi, Julia Cooley, The Spectacular San
Franciscans. New York, E. P. Dutton, 1949.
From MR. ALLAN FORBES-Forbes, Allan and Ralph M. Eastman, Yankee Ship
Sailing Cards, Boston, State Street Trust Co., C1948; and their: Other Yankee Ship Sail-
ing Cards, Boston, State Street Trust Co., C1949.
!
272 California Historical Society Quarterly
From MR. HARLAN D. FOWLER-His: Foivler Flaps for Airplanes, and Engineer-
ing Handbook. Los Angeles, Wetzel Pub. Co., C1948.
From GUY AND HELEN GIFFEN-Their: The Story of Golden Gate Park. San
Francisco [Privately Published] 1949.
From MR. C. M. GOETHE-His: ''Whafs In A Namer, Tales, Historical or Ficti-
tious, about III California Gold Belt Place Names [Sacramento, Keystone Press, C1949].
From CHARLES FRANCIS GRIFFIN, M.D.-Pratt, Walter Merriam, The May-
fiozuer Society House. Cambridge, Mass., Privately Printed by the University Press, 1949.
From THE HENRY E. HUNTINGTON LIBRARY AND ART GALLERY-Its:
Apron Full of Gold, The Letters of Mary Jane Megquier from San Francisco, 1849-18^6.
Edited by Robert Glass Cleland, San Marino, The Huntington Library, 1949.
From MR. LAWTON R. KENNEDY-Fauntleroy, Joseph, John Henry Nash
Printer; Legend and Fact in the Development of a Fine Press Intimately Reviewed. Oak-
land, Westgate Press, 1948.
From THE REVEREND F. NIEDNER— Thornton, J. Quinn, Oregon and California
in 1848 . . . New York, Harper & Brothers, 1849. Vol. I.
From MISS FLORENCE R. KEENE- Winters, Yvor, The Giant Weapon, New
York, New Directions, C1943; Winters, Ivor, ed.. Twelve Poets of The Pacific, Norfolk,
Conn., New Directions, 1937.
From MR. S. R. NELSON— Nelson, Ruth R., Rancho Santa Fe Yesterday and Today.
[Encinitas, Coast Dispatch] 1947; Nelson, S. R., Rancho Santa Fe, a Successful Experi-
ment in Architectural Control. Reprinted from Architect and Engineer, January 1947;
Union Title Insurance and Trust Co., San Diego, The Story of Rancho Santa Fe; Living
in Rancho Santa Fe, v. i, no. 5, May 1949.
From THE REVEREND LEIGHTON H. NUGENT-Trinity Episcopal Church,
San Francisco. One Hundred Years a Parish, 1849-1949. [San Francisco, The Church,
1949]
From PACIFIC LODGE #136 F. & A. M.-Its: The Pacific Story, 90 Years of Ma-
sonry 18^9-1949. [San Francisco, The Lodge, 1949]
From RANDOM HOUSE— Hungerford, Edward. Wells Fargo; Advancing the
American Frontier, New York, Random House, 1949.
From MR. ANDREW F. ROLLE-His: Riviera Path [Nervi, Italy, Officine Grafiche
Veronesi of Arnoldo Mondadori, 1946] ; Collection of his articles from various serial
publications.
From SANTA BARBARA BOTANIC GARDEN- Van Rensselaer, Maunsell, Trees
of Santa Barbara. Rev. ed. Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara Botanic Garden, 1948.
From MR. NAT SCHMULOWITZ-His: The Laws of the Town of San Francisco
1841; with a fragment by Nat Schmulowitz. San Francisco [Greenwood Press] 1949.
From MR. SIDNEY SCHWARTZ-Wilson, Carol Green, Gump's Treasure Trade,
A Story of San Francisco. New York, Thomas Y. Crowell, C1949.
From MR. PORTER SESNON— Barr, James A. and Joseph M. Cumming. The Legacy
of The Exposition. San Francisco [Panama-Pacific Exposition Company] 19 16; Panama-
Pacific International Exposition Co., Final Financial Report. [San Francisco, L. Herrick
and Herrick, 1921]; San Francisco Bay Exposition, Closing Report. (Mimeographed,
undated)
From ALBERT SHUMATE, M.D.-Kavanagh, D. J., The Holy Family Sisters of San
Francisco, a Sketch of Their First Fifty Years i8']2-i922. San Francisco, Gilmartin Co.,
1922; California Caravan of Charity, an Historical Sketch of the Nursing Sisterhoods and
Their Hospitals in California. Catholic Hospital Association and Association of Western
Hospitals, 1949.
w
News of the Society 273
From STANFORD UNIVERSITY-Its: George Edward Cr others, a Friend of Stan-
ford University, [Stanford] Stanford University, 1949.
From STANFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS- White, John R. and Samuel J. Pusateri,
Sequoia and Kiiigs Canyon National Parks. Stanford, Stanford University Press, 1949.
From MRS. E. C. SUTLIFFE-Bancroft, Hubert Howe, The Native Races of the
Pacific States of North America. New York, D. Appleton and Co., 1876. 5 volumes.
From UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA PRESS-Rister, Carl Coke, Oil/ Titan of
the Southwest. Norman, University of Oklahoma Press, 1949.
From MR. HENRY R. WAGNER— Adon. Timothy Bookworm, Horesco Referens,
Selected by William P. Wreden from Lays of Modern Oxford . . . Menlo Park [Green-
wood Press] 1949; Brooks, Benjamin S., '^Repartimiento''"' Supreme Court of the State of
California, Rudolph Steinbach, appellant, vs. Joseph H. Moore, et. al. respondents, brief
on the part of the appellants . . . [n.p., n.d.] ; California. Supreme Court, . . . John Coch-
ra?2e, Respondent, vs. David Collins, Appellant, Transcript on Appeal From the District
Court of the Fourth Judicial District . . . San Francisco [Francis, Valentine & Co., n.d.]
With this are bound fifteen briefs of Brooks & Whitney; California. Supreme Court,
Decisions . . . In the Cases of Hart vs. Buriiett, et al. and Holliday vs. Frisbie, with notes
and comments, San Francisco, H. H. Bancroft Co., i860; A Collection of twelve tracts
in Spanish published in Mexico in 1948 and 1949 in a limited number and relating mostly
to the Northwest Coast; Hernandez de Cordoba, Francisco, The Discovery of Yucatan,
with Translation of the original texts with an introduction and notes by Henry R. Wag-
ner, [Berkeley] The Cortes Society, 1942; Hopkins, Caspar T., A Manual of American
Ideas, San Francisco, A. L. Bancroft, 1873; Lambert, Mary, Rhyming Oak Leaves, San
Francisco, Bancroft Co., 1892; Morrison, Anna M., The Earlier Poems, San Francisco,
A. L. Bancroft & Co., 1880; Newmark, Nathan, The Code of Civil Procedure of the State
of California, San Francisco, Bancroft-Whitney Co., 1889; O'Connell, Daniel, Lyrics,
San Francisco, A. L. Bancroft, 1881; Parburt, George R., Anselmo: a Poem., San Fran-
cisco, H. H. Bancroft & Co., 1865; Rattan, Volney, A Popular California Flora, or. Man-
ual of Botany for Beginners, San Francisco, A. L. Bancroft, 1882; Scott, W. A., An
Address to the Members of the Forty-Second Street Presbyterian Church and Congrega-
tion, [n.p., n.d.]; Title Insurance and Trust Company, Pasadena, A Calendar of Events
in the Making of a City, Los Angeles, The Company, C1949; Wagner, Henry R., Fran-
cisco Lopez de Gomara and his works, Worcester, The Society, 1949. Reprinted from
American Antiquarian Society Proceedings for October 1948; Winslow, C. F., The
Nazarite^s Vow, an Address Delivered Before The Sons of Temperance, in San Fran-
cisco, Sunday March 4, 1855, Boston, Crosby, Nichols, and Co., 1855.
From MR. CARL I. WHEAT-His: The Literature of the Gold Rush. Reprinted
from The New Colophon, v. 2, pt. 5, 1949.
From MISS LOTTIE G. WCDODS— Cummings, Homer, Address, San Francisco June
28, 1920; Sherman, W. T., General Sherman's Address to the Grand Army of the Re-
public, San Francisco, Goldstein & Co., Print, 1886; Slum, George W., comp.. The
Cyclers' Guide and Road Book of California . . . 1896, San Francisco [E. Denny, 1895];
Officers, Members, By-Laws Burlingame Country Club 1909, Burlingame [n.d.]; Pacific
Union Club . . . Constitution and By-Laws, December 1906, [San Francisco, Upton Bros.
& Delzelle, 1906]; University Club, By-Laws, House Rules and List of Officers and
Members, May i, 189^, [San Francisco, A. J. Leary, 1895]
From MR. ROBERT J. WOODS-The Westerners, Los Angeles Corral, The West-
erners Brand Book, Los Angeles Corral 1948. Los Angeles, The Westerners, 1949.
MAGAZINES AND ISHEWSPAPERS
From MR. JAMES E. BEARD— Napa Valley Wine Press, v. i, no. i and continuation.
From MR. JAMES DONALDSON— iVa^owa/ Motorist, v. 25, no. 5, July- August 1949
2 74 California Historical Society Quarterly
containing "Who Was America's Greatest Hunter?" [James Capen Adams] by Horace
S. Mazet.
From MR. EDWARD J. FARRELL-Gilbert, Benjamin F. and Edward J. FarreU.
"Cultural Beginnings of San Francisco," in San Francisco Quarterly, v. 15, no. 2, Spring
1949.
From MRS. WILLIAM J. GILMAN-Kosmos . . . the Official Organ of the Geo-
graphical Society of the Pacific, v. i, no. 1-3, Feb.-April 1887.
From MR. GEORGE L. HARDING-A specimen collection of over 200 California
newspapers dating from i860; A Volume I Number I collection of 185 different Cali-
fornia periodicals; Overland Monthly, v. 87, no. 7, July 1928; The New West (Wasp
Annual) v. 44, no. 50, December 15, 1900.
From MR. F. HAL HIGGINS-His: "A Green-Thumb '49er, Colonel Warren's
Nursery Catalogues a Recent Important Find" in California Farmer, May 7, 1949; His:
"Colonel Warren's Old Curiosity Shop" in California Farmer, July 16, 1949; His: "The
Combine Parade" in The Farm Quarterly, v. 4, no. 2, Summer 1949; Sherwood, L. A. W.,
Rice, Its Origin Production and Use; as presented in an address before the San Fran-
cisco Rotary Club on August loth, 1948.
From MR. J. W. JOHNSON— California Engineer, v. 27, no. 8, May 1949 containing
his: "Engineering Highlights of the California Mining Days."
From MR. HOB ART M. LOVETT-S^ Juan Amateur, v. i, no. i, April i, 1880.
From MRS. HANS C. NELSON— Twenty-three bound volumes of Century Maga-
zine, New Series, v. 7-17, 23, 25-27, 29, 40-44, 50, 1884-1895.
From MR. HERBERT A. ShWlN-The Scientific Monthly, v. 69, no. i, July 1949
containing his: "One Hundred Years of California Placer Mining."
From MAJOR J. M. SCAMMELL-T^^ Siskiyou Daily News, June 21, 1949 contain-
ing his "Indian Troubles in 1856 Cause Formation of Guard Company."
From MISS LOTTIE G. WOOX^S-San Francisco News Letter, Jubilee Edition, v. 48,
no. 3, July 21, 1906.
MANUSCRIPTS
From MR. RIMO BACIGALUPI— Manuscript petition for title and original grant for
Town Lot 64, Yerba Buena or San Francisco March 3rd 1847. Enoch P. Jewett petitioner.
From MR. HAROLD C. HOLMES-Diary of C. P. W. Bates [Berkeley] dentist of
the '8o's] of a voyage to San Francisco in 1873 and kept intermittently through 1881,
partly in Portugese; Eben. A. Knowlton's Common Place Book for Poetry, Lynn High
School 1849.
From MARYLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY- An unsigned manuscript letter from
San Francisco, dated March 30, 1879, written on illustrated letter sheet.
PICTURES AND MAPS
From MRS. EVELYN CURRO-Two of her prints, California Street Cable-Car, and
Powell Street Cable-Car.
From MRS. WILLIAM J. GILMAN-Two photographs of Mr. G. K. Fitch.
From MR. JOHN M. GREGORY-Photograph: "Old Mill" Middle Fork American
River near Auburn, 1949.
From MRS. REGINALD HAMLIN-Two photographs of Norman Scott Hamlin,
M.D. and his wife.
From MR. G. TOM KING— Four photographs: View of San Francisco, Carmel Mis-
sion 1899, Interior San Miguel Mission, San Gabriel Mission.
From MR. PAUL P. PARKER-Two photographs: Old Gabriel, and Miss Kate
Castleton.
News of the Society 275
From MRS. J. P. RETTENMAYER-Two photographs of Mr. and Mrs. Andrew
Smith Hallidie.
From THE SANTA FE RAILWAY SYSTEM-TA^e Santa Fe Trail, pictographic
map issued by The American Pioneer Trail Association, 1946.
From MRS. MARGARET E. SCHLICHTMANN-Photograph of ten surviving
'49ers. [n.d.]
From MR. HERBERT L. SMITH-Photograph of Bodie ca.i88o; Photostatic copy
of view of Bodie from 1864 to 1876 from a sketch made by J. Ross Browne, in 1864;
Photostatic copy of map of Bodie, n.d.
From MR. JOS. A. SULLIVAN— Six lithographic reproductions of the following:
San Francisco, 1849; Map of the Mediterranean Sea; Sacramento City, 1850; Map of
Mokelumne River Project, Oct. 2, 1924; Mitchell Map of Texas, Oregon, and California,
1846; Colton Map of the United States and Mexico, 1849.
From MRS. WARNER LEWIS TABB-Ten early photographs of Santa Cruz: Nat-
ural Bridge, Ingersolls Cathedral, Big Trees, Beach and Beach Hill, Camp Capitola, The
Cathedral, Mission Street, Sisters of Charity, Court House, and view of Santa Cruz.
From UNION TITLE INSURANCE AND TRUST COMPANY-Its: Map of the
Ranchos of San Diego County with Historic Routes and Points of Interest, C1947.
MISCELLANEOUS
From MISS LAURA P. BLANK— A newspaper clipping from the Missouri Republi-
can for August 20, 1856 containing the statement of James R. Maloney concerning the
San Francisco Committee of Vigilance 1856.
From MR. HAROLD J. BRADY— Ten badges of the San Francisco Fire Department;
Mercantile Fire Dispatch Co., Admit bearer June 30, 191 1, Admit bearer July i, 1912 to
June 30, 191 3, Assistant Engineer, Hydrant Inspector, Hydrantman, Numbers 20 and
470, Press pass and Veteran Firemen's Association, New York, badge presented to James
Riley.
From MR. THOMAS F. DONOHUE-An invitation to a Birthday Party at the Hall
of the Assembly on February 4, 1851 issued to Sen. Thomas J. Breen and printed on silk.
From MR. ALFRED I. ESBERG— One steel cabinet fitted with shelves for storage.
From MRS. REGINALD HAMLIN— Insignia and medal presented to Norman Scott
Hamlin, M.D., for valorous labor as surgeon in the Battle of Shiloh.
From MR. GEORGE L. HARDING-Borton, Francis S. "El Camino Real," from
Guatemala to California i8th. Cent. [n.p.,n.d.] ; Several Gold Rush Centennial Programs;
Three scrapbooks of copies of all contemporary newspaper references to Lola Montez.
From MISS VIRGINIA JAMESON— Necklace made from watch chain owned and
worn by Rachel Jameson Driver of Fiddletown.
From MR. HERBERT L. SMITH— Three photostatic copies of drawings of Cali-
fornia bridges; Twelve photographs and negatives: Tombs and monuments of Hobart
Family, James C. Fair, Alvinza Hayward, James C. Flood, E. J. Baldwin, Charles T.
Crocker; Residences of James C. Flood Jr., James C. Flood, D. O. Mills, Ralston's Elstate
at Belmont.
From MRS. HELEN MAR YE THOMAS-Full dress uniform of Ambassador George
Thomas Marye; Photographic portrait of Ambassador Marye in uniform.
From WASHINGTON GRAMMAR SCHOOL ASSOCIATION-A cast metal
ventilator bearing the date 1861 which was part of the old Washington Grammar School,
built at Washington and Mason streets in 1861.
From MR. FREDERICK WUERCH-A collection of 23 historical and theatrical pro-
grams of events held in San Francisco.
Meetings
On May 12,1949, ^^e Honorable Joseph R. Knowland spoke before the
Society on "Historic Columbia and the California Centennials." Not since
June 14, 1945, when he described the progress made up to that time in Co-
lumbia's centennial status, have the members and their guests had the pleasure
of listening to Mr. Knowland in his capacity, to mention only one, as chair-
man of the California State Park Commission.
The idea of preserving Columbia, the speaker said, had been in prospect
officially since January 23, 1936, when the legislature allocated $15,000 for
the purpose of acquiring property at Columbia. On February 17, 1937, the
State Park Commission rendered a report, accompanied by a map of the
town and an appraisal by Thomas T. Kent, together with data obtained from
research by H. E. Rensch who was then supervising the project. Those in-
terested tried, without success, to raise $25,000; but enthusiasm, stimulated
by the approaching centennials, was growing, with the result that in 1945
the legislature passed a bill designating Columbia as a state park. (See Eliza-
beth Gray Potter, "Columbia . . ." in the Quarterly for Sept. 1945, pp.
267-70; and the speaker's own tribute to the generous efforts of William
Cavalier, former president of this Society, ibid., pp. 374-75.)
The legislation of 1945 was followed by actual acquisitions— in many in-
stances only after prolonged negotiations. As far as possible, condemnation
of property has been avoided. Where titles are difficult to obtain, easements
are secured which prevent modernization or other changes in the buildings,
without permission from the State Park Commission. Up to date, eighty-five
per cent of the property, Mr. Knowland said, has been acquired, and, to safe-
guard the city's borders, the commission has also enlarged the boundaries of
Unit One. An advisory committee, called the Columbia Historic Park Asso-
ciation, was incorporated on December 24, 1945, to work with the State
Park Commission and the town's own citizens. Special investigations have
likewise been in progress under the supervision of Dr. Aubrey Neasham,
historian of the National Park Service, and Frederick Law Olmsted, a noted
planning expert.
One of the problems facing Columbia, said the speaker, has been provision
for fire protection. After much negotiation, the existing water system, which
had become obsolete, was taken over and arrangements were concluded
whereby connection could be made with the ample source from which the
Pacific Gas and Electric Company supplies Sonora. Old springs will also be
utilized; a chlorinization system is already in operation. In other words,
water is plentiful but new piping will have to be installed, eventually, as
many of the old pipes will not stand the increased pressures. As for storage,
purchase has been made of the old brewery site. This will provide an eleva-
tion on which a 126,000-gallon tank and a reservoir capable of storing an
276
News of the Society ijj
additional 200,000 will be erected. Maturing of these plans, the two new fire
engines that have already been added to the town's equipment, and the clear-
ing away of dry grass, will reduce the fire hazard. Moreover, there is a for-
estry fire department within easy distance of Columbia. In closing, Mr.
Knowland said: "California, I am happy to report, is making progress at
Columbia, thanks to Governor Warren, to the legislation proposed by Sen-
ator Jesse Mayo and passed by the state's law-making body, and the sincere
efforts of the California State Park Commission to carry out the program."
Dr. Charles L. Camp, professor of paleontology and director of the de-
partment's museum at the University of California— director also of this
Society from 1923 through 1933 and successor of Henry R. Wagner as
chairman of its publications committee— spoke at the luncheon meeting on
June 9th on "Gold Days in California, AustraHa, and South Africa."*
In 1948, California celebrated the first centennial of the discovery of gold
in her river gravels; in 1951, New South Wales will have her celebration of
the finds in like diggings; and in 1986, there will be exercises in honor of
the discovery of gold in beds of conglomerate known as the "banket" for-
mation, north of the Vaal River near Johannesburg, which surpass all the
world's known deposits in richness. But Professor Camp went back— way
back, as a paleontologist would— to the Book of Job (XXVIII, v. 6) where,
as a simple fact and aloof from any frantic quest, the stones of the earth are
said to be "the place of sapphires: and it hath dust of gold."
In the background of our institutions and way of living is this "dust of
gold," which acts, the speaker said, even in primitive communities, as an
enzyme in the body politic, stimulating and preserving activity. A psychol-
ogy is attached to it. Professor Camp told of his own family's experiences,
on Greenhorn Mountain in Kern County, up 6000 feet in elevation, while
his father went down a 400-ft. shaft, hunting for gold. Snow, sour dough,
and dried codfish were endured in deference to a mere prospect. Prospecting
is, in fact, a thing amateurs take up. James Marshall was an amateur and so
was Edward Hammond Hargraves (1816-91) who, having been in Cali-
fornia, recognized the same type of gold-bearing terrain near Bathurst in
New South Wales, though professional geologists had failed to find it.
Marshall, discouraged, abandoned mining for horticulture; but Hargraves,
making no fortune himself, continued with the industry and became com-
missioner of mines (and author of Australia and Its Gold Fields . . .to which
are added notices on the use and working of gold, London, 1855).
The early Californian and Australian gold discoveries were made in sur-
face placers under the hot sun or in broken river-ice. In South Africa it was
*Professor Camp's report on the fossils, and ethnic and other data, gathered by the
southern section of the state university's expedition to Africa in 1947-48, may be read in
Science, Nov. 19, 1948, pp. 550-52.
I
278 California Historical Society Quarterly
found in what the speaker called a gigantic, cemented, subterranean placer,
great in depth and antiquity and underlying all known fossils. He told how
this discovery was tied in with Cecil Rhodes' plans to promote British in-
terests north of the twenty-second parallel. About this time (it was patented
in 1890), came the discovery of the cyanide process, whereby gold is dis-
solved in potassium cyanide solution and then precipitated, a process which
was especially successful in the Rand area of the Transvaal. Now, centered
at Odendaals Rust, in an extension of the same subterranean placer south of
the Vaal, the cry of gold is ringing again, in what is considered to be the
greatest of all discoveries. Again, great dumps will be added to the line al-
ready extending across the world's horizon of gold-rush sites; again will be
re-enacted the scourge of dust, and the cost of living will answer to the spur
of lessened production in other lines. Problems and agitations come in their
turn: already the economist is asking, what shall the price of gold be per
ounce? Meanwhile a question of Job's, older, as a symbol, than the Rand's
conglomerate, remains: "But where shall wisdom be found and where is the
place of understanding? ... It cannot be valued with the gold of Ophir . , .
or the sapphire . . . for the price of wisdom is above rubies."
f n JEemonam
Ray Lyman Wilbur
Ray Lyman Wilbur, physician, university president, government official,
and public man, known for thirty years as a leader among physicians, schol-
ars, statesmen, and humanitarians throughout the United States, died at his
home on the Stanford University campus on June 26, 1949. As Herbert
Hoover said of him, in commenting on his death, "America is a better place
for his having lived in it." This was a full life, packed with activities that grew
with the years and kept him occupied until the day of his death.
He was an American, of American stock, and very proud of the fact. Born
in Boonesboro, Iowa, April 13, 1875, the son of Dwight Locke and Edna
Maria (Lyman) Wilbur, Ray Lyman Wilbur spent his boyhood in Iowa, in
the Dakota Territory, and in southern California. At seventeen he graduated
from the Riverside high school. From the outset he was interested in the
history of his country, in particular that of the westward movement in
which he and his family had participated. California history in its many
phases held his attention. Of many aspects of that history since 1900 his own
activities were an important part. His recollections of the last half century
were packed with information, insight, and salty anecdote.
A graduate of Stanford in the class of 1 896, with an M.D. from Cooper
Medical College, San Francisco, in 1 899, he went to Europe for special study
in medicine at Frankfort-on-Main and London in 1903-4, and at the Univer-
sity of Munich, 1909-10. Except for these years and the intervening period
when he was a practising physician in Palto Alto, Dr. Wilbur was officially
associated with Stanford University throughout the remainder of his life.
As president from 19 16 to 1943, he built a great university.
His acquaintance among public men was wide. A crusader in social hy-
giene and in physical and social medicine, he was president of the California
Academy of Medicine, 191 7- 18; president of the American Medical Asso-
ciation, 1923-24; president of the Association of American Medical Colleges,
1924; president of the California Society for Promotion of Medical Re-
search, 1915-38; president of the California state conference of social agen-
cies, 19 1 9; vice-president of the San Francisco community chest, 1927-29;
chairman of the committee on costs of medical care, 1927-32; chairman of
the White House conference on child health and protection, 1929-3 1 ; presi-
dent, California Physicians Service, 1939-45; president, American Social
Hygiene Association, 1936-48; chairman of the Baruch committee on physi-
cal medicine, 1943-49.
He was a keen judge of character and unerring in his detection of pre-
tense and sham in the past as well as the present. He held decided views and
had little hesitancy in expressing them. Wide reading was characteristic of
279
2 8o California Historical Society Quarterly
his busiest years as administrator and public official. This gave his speeches
and his public statements in form, as well as in substance, a far reaching
appeal seldom accorded the utterances of public men on medicine, pubhc
health, liberal education, and international relations.
As secretary of the interior in the cabinet of President Hoover, 1929- 193 3,
Wilbur was given further opportunity to express the interest in conservation
which he had brought to his work as chief of the conservation division of
the United States Food Administration in 19 17, in association with his life-
long friend, Herbert Hoover. The final service in this friendship was given
by Dr. Wilbur on the medical services committee of the commission on or-
ganization of the executive branch of the government in 1948. As secretary
of the interior, Wilbur gave particular attention to the problem of the Amer-
ican Indian as citizen and self-supporting American. He once said that he
was convinced that to leave the Indian tied to the reservation for an indefi-
nite period meant disaster. Characteristic was his interest in the migratory
bird conservation commission and timber conservation board.
Part of the record of his four years of government service may be found
in the Annual Reports of the Secretary of the Interior for each year from
1929 to 1932, in Hoover Dam Documents (with Northcutt Ely, rev. ed.,
1948), Construction of Hoover Dam (with Elwood Mead, 1933), Conserva-
tion (with W. A. DuPuy, 193 1), and Hoover Policies (with Arthur M.
Hyde, 1937). These volumes include the source materials for important
chapters in both California history and the history of the nation.
Deeply concerned with the role of the United States among the nations.
Dr. Wilbur was chairman of the executive committee, survey of race rela-
tions on the Pacific coast, 1922-24; chairman. Institute of Pacific Relations,
1925-29, and of the Honolulu conferences of the institute in 1925 and 1927;
chairman of the American council of the institute, 1941; chairman of the
executive committee of the San Francisco Bay region division of the same
institute, 1936-48; and chairman of the American Institute of Pacific Rela-
tions, 1948-49.
In 1898 he married Marguerite May Blake, who died on December 24,
1946. Dr. Wilbur and Mrs. Wilbur were devoted to the family that grew up
about them. All children survive: Mrs. Jessica Ely, Blake Colburn, D wight
Locke, Mrs. Lois Proctor Hopper, Ray Lyman. There are twenty-two
grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. The provisions of Dr. Wilbur's
will reflect clearly his devotion to family, to education, and to the abiding
beliefs that make for an enduring society.
He was a deeply patriotic man. He had interest in every part of the United
States and in all kinds of people. He drew from his European experiences as
a scholar many a conclusion of importance on European affairs, and his later
travel gave him added interest in the Far East and in Latin America. San
Franciscans knew him for his public service in innumerable organizations.
News of the Society 1 8 1
Palo Alto residents knew him as practising physician and neighbor. Stanford
men and women have known him as student, teacher, dean, president, and
chancellor. All have known him as a friend who played a great part in
present day America.
Ray Lyman Wilbur not only loved America and was proud of its history,
but was deeply concerned about its future. This "Man Thinking" has left a
great legacy. Some of it may be used by succeeding generations who will
find it in three books: Stanford Horizons (1936), The March of Medicine
(1938), and Human Hopes ( 1944). The promised Autobiography, when it
appears, will tell us more.
^^ Edgar Eugene Robinson
George Dunlap Lyman
^ George Lyman, son of Dean Briggs and Anna Louisa (Dunlap) Lyman,
^: was born on December 12, 1882, in Virginia City, Nevada, where his father
(i was superintendent of the celebrated "Consolidated Virginia" mine. After
studying at the University of Nevada and at Stanford University (class of
1905), he went to Columbia University which granted him his medical de-
gree in 1909. Thereafter, for a year, he served as intern at Bellevue Hospital,
New York. From 191 2- 19 13, Dr. Lyman studied pediatrics at Munich,
Vienna, and Berlin, and, upon coming to San Francisco twenty-five years
ago, he took his place as one of the city's foremost pediatricians. He died on
July 26, 1949.
Dr. Lyman was greatly interested in the historical literature of the West,
particularly concerning California and Nevada, and had one of the finest
and largest private collections in this state. As a writer of note, himself, he
added to that literature through authorship of several successful books,
among them John Marsh, Pioneer, The Saga of the Comstock Lode, and
Ralston'* s Ring; each was reviewed as follows:
To every phase of Dr. Marsh's variegated and picturesque career, the author has given
devoted research, and has presented the results in a well-proportioned, well-documented,
and very readable volume. It is a striking career that he has unveiled, and a still more
striking character— full of faults but full also of strength and energy.
(Allan Nevins, in Saturday Review of Literature, Oct. ii, 1930)
There is no question about the Saga^s soundness as history. Well documented and
backed by thorough research, it is not only a robustly dramatic piece of writing but a
valid and worthy contribution to the greater saga of which it is a part, the almost fabu-
lous chronicle of the building of the West.
(Joseph Henry Jackson, in Booklist, June 1934)
Dr. Lyman is the one man to write the account of a fascinating and fabulous era that
is now history. He has done his work carefully and well. It is a great story and loses
nothing in the telling. ^t^ r^ » . .„,.._.. ,, . ^
(F. S. Ambrose, m Christian Science Monitor, Oct. 6, 1937)
282
California Historical Society Quarterly
He took an active share in the work of the California Historical Society.
For two years (1943 and 1944), during the last war, he was its president,
and from 1926 until 1945 served on the board of directors. A Doctor Comes
to California (the diary of John S. Griffin, assistant surgeon with Kearny's
dragoons), for which Lyman wrote the introduction and compiled the notes,
was made into a special publication of the Society in 1943.
John Howell
New Members
Name
Address
Sustaining
Dwight Murphy
Santa Barbara
Melville C.Threlkeld, Jr.
San Francisco
Active
Titus Alexander
Los Angeles
E. Geoffrey Bangs
San Francisco
Frank H. Bartholomew
Sonoma
Mrs. Nelda Oakes Beacock
Hayward
Miss Augusta A. Bloomer
San Francisco
Mrs. A. F. Moore Bowden
Mallorca, Spain
Harry J. Breen
Hollister
Lt. Comdr. George H. Cabaniss, Jr.
San Francisco
Cecil Corwin, D.D.S.
Hayward
Mrs. Arthur D. Curtner
San Jose
Mrs. Charles de Y. Elkus, Jr.
San Francisco
Elliott A. P. Evans
Santa Barbara
Fresno State College Library
Fresno
Harold S. Gladwin
Santa Barbara
Mrs. H. L. Halloran
Berkeley
Kenneth C. Hinrichsen
Berkeley
Mrs. Arthur E. Hutchinson
Santa Barbara
Kirk B. Johnson
Santa Barbara
Vernon Knight
San Francisco
Mrs. William Latham
San Francisco
Latin American Village
El Monte
John Lawlor
San Francisco
J. Gregg Layne
West Los Angeles
Michel Litven
Oakland
Harry C. Mabry
Los Angeles
Marysville City Library
Marysville
Lucio M. Mintzer
Palo Alto
David F. Myrick
Berkeley
Mrs. Emma Oakes
Hayward
Mrs. J. C. Oehler
Dallas, Texas
Ohio State University Library
Columbus, Ohio
Carl A. Phleger
Ventura
Willard S. Poage
Richmond
Kenneth Pratt
Los Altos
Russell Wilson Pratt
San Francisco
Mrs. J. P. Rettenmayer
San Francisco
L S. Rogers
Piercy
Col. Waddell F.Smith
Hamilton Field
Proposed by
Membership Committee
Continuing membership
of his mother
Membership Committee
Henry Collins and
Aubrey Drury
Mrs. L. H. Tryon
Joseph R. Knowland
Membership Committee
Warren R. Howell
Resuming membership
A. T. Leonard, Jr., M.D.
Membership Committee
Will B. Weston
Membership Committee
Mrs. Jeanne Van Nostrand
Membership Committee
Membership Committee
Membership Committee
Honor Award-
University of California
Membership Committee
Membership Committee
Warren R. Howell
Mrs. A. J. Bancroft
Membership Committee
Robert D. Haines
Resuming membership
Membership Committee
Membership Committee
Membership Committee
Miss Else Schilling
Joseph Henry Jackson
Joseph R. Knowland
Henry R. Wagner
Membership Committee
1
Membership Committee
Anson S. Blake
Honor Award-
Stanford University
Mrs. G. L. Cadwalader
Miss Else Schilling
Warren R. Howell
Mrs. Rogers Parratt
284
California Historical Society Quarterly
Name
Address
Proposed by
Willard W. Smith
San Francisco
Membership Committee
Wyland Stanley
San Francisco
Warren R. Howell
Mrs. George T. Stevens
Chicago
Membership Committee
Edson G. Thomas
Sahnas
Porter Sesnon and
Milton D. Eisner
Mrs. Sydney Van Wyck
San Francisco
Mrs. Franklin Hittell
Fredrick S. Waiss
San Francisco
Mrs. G. D. de Balaine
Alvin C. Weingand
Santa Barbara
Membership Committee
Marginalia
Notes on authors in this issue:
Dean Albertson (A.B., 1942) was the first graduate student at the Univer-
sity of California to hold the California Historical Society's honor award in
history, as provided for by friends of the Society in 1946. Since then he has
been at Columbia University studying under Prof. Allan Nevins. (See the
Society's Notes for Feb. 1949.)
Miss Nancy Anderson was well under way in editing the letters of Cap-
tain Alden (as announced in the March 1949 Quarterly, pp. 92-93), when
new work, assigned to her on the Sunset Magazine, prevented her from com-
pleting it. The editors therefore substituted for her in preparing the final
copy of the Captain's letters.
Dr. J. N. Bowman's preceding article on his work in the state archives
may be found in the June 1949 Quarterly, pp. 143-50.
Mrs. Doris Foley, who collaborated with Professor Morley in the article
on the English Dam flood, has been prominent in the excellent work being
done by the Nevada County Historical Society in Nevada City, California.
She was president in 1948 and is now vice-president and chairman of their
museum committee.
S. Griswold Morley is a native of Massachusetts (1878). He was granted
his Ph.D. degree at Harvard in 1902, and has taught there, at the University
of Colorado, University of New Mexico (professor of modern languages),
and at the University of California from 1914 until his recent retirement as
emeritus professor of Spanish. Dr. Morley's published works include trans-
lations, articles and text books. In 1938, the first edition of his The Covered
Bridges of California was issued by the University of California Press.
Among our new members:
In the Quarterly of March 1945 (pp. 61, 62, 72), Mrs. Beacock's paternal
grandfather, "Tony" Oakes, is spoken of admiringly by Maj. Edwin A.
Sherman in his recollections. The Oakes children are said to "publish the
Hayward Journal, which is well edited and deserves success." See below
under Mrs. Emma Oakes.
I
Marginalia 285
Miss Augusta A. Bloomer remembers vividly her grandfather, Joseph F.
Atwill (b. Boston, 181 1; d. Oakland, 1 891), to whom Soule et al, Annals of
San Francisco (New York, 1855), devote a section, pp. 781-83, among their
biographical sketches, mentioning particularly his contributions to the ar-
tistic life of San Francisco, and, as president of the board of aldermen
(elected in 1854) to its orderly government. See also George R. MacMinn,
The Theatre of the Golden Age (Caldwell, Idaho, 1941), pp. 376-77, quot-
ing a contemporary remark about Atwill's music store which was said to be
"armed to the teeth with pianos, accordions, guitars " The firm of Sher-
man & Clay, Miss Bloomer says, is a direct descendant of Atwill's store. Her
father, John G. Bloomer (husband of Atwill's fourth daughter, E. Augusta)
was employed in the San Francisco office of the Central Pacific Division of
the Atlantic & Pacific Telegraph Co. in 1876 and made out telegrams on be-
half of "Emperor" Norton to various European rulers— which, knowing the
circumstances surrounding Norton, Mr. Bloomer refrained from despatch-
ing. He was the author of Bloomer^ s Commercial Cryptograph, a telegraphic
code . . . (San Francisco, 1874); Bloomefs International Cryptograph . . .,
an improved and revised edition of the preceding (San Francisco, 1884) ; and
The Pacific Cryptograph, a complete double index cipher for telegraphing
(San Francisco, 1872), of which there were three editions.
Born in Kentucky of American revolutionary officers' stock, Harry
Cooper Mabry, attorney-at-law, graduated from the Yale law school in
1923; whereupon he came to Los Angeles and has continued to live there and
practice his profession. Some of Mr. Mabry's cases have been concerned
with Boulder Dam and with water development in the Mono basin. Aside
from his personal professional work, he has been active in the interest of
national and local bar associations and of Yale graduate organizations. Dur-
ing 1933-38, Mr, Mabry was a member of the board of governors of the
Yale Publishing Association. He has also, himself, written on the subject of
the development of the water and power resources of Los Angeles, and on
Americanism as exemplified by Will Rogers. Mr. Mabry's brother is the
Hon. Thomas J. Mabry, governor of New Mexico.
David F. Myrick, a native of Santa Barbara, is a graduate of the Babson
Institute, Wellesley, Massachusetts. From September 1940 to August 1944,
he was employed by Consolidated Vultee Aircraft Corp., in San Diego, but
he is now attached to the general offices of the Southern Pacific Co. in San
Francisco. This work gives Mr. Myrick a chance to broaden a youthful
enthusiasm for railroads, begun in boarding-school days in Colorado Springs,
into a livelihood; it also acts as a spring-board for studying the history of
California and its development.
Mrs. Emma Oakes, widow and former able journalist associate of her
husband, George Anthony Oakes, is one of the "children" [-in-law, in her
case] referred to above in the note on Mrs. Beacock. The Oakes made not-
2 86 California Historical Society Quarterly
able contributions to early newspaper activity in central California and were
the good friends of contemporary literary figures.
Readers of the March 1945 Quarterly, mentioned above in these notes,
will be interested to know that the Society's new member, Irving S. Rogers,
is a great-grandson of Caleb Greenwood, whose attempt to persuade the
Donner party to take the Fort Hall road to California instead of the Hastings'
cutoff is there noted by P. M. Weddell (pp. 73, 76) in his "Location of the
Donner Family Camp."
Andrew F. Rolle, a graduate of Occidental College, is a reader at the
Huntington Library and a teaching assistant in history at the University of
California at Los Angeles. His career so far has included wartime duties in
the Pacific, with special assignments having to do with military intelligence;
and American vice-consul at Genoa, Italy, in 1946, where he did political
and economic reporting— an intensely live episode, furnishing material for
his Ph.D. thesis.
Col. Waddell F. Smith, retired, was born in Kansas City in 1 899 and was
educated at its law school (now a part of Kansas City University). But his
interests turned to life insurance, especially as it affects aircraft pilots; and,
as this was a new field of business, Colonel Smith's duties included a great
deal of flying over this country and the Pacific islands, well before Pearl
Harbor. The February preceding that event, he was ordered to active duty
as a reserve officer at air force headquarters. Since then he has flown exten-
sively, with a round-the-world flight on one occasion. His retirement be-
came effective in November 1946, because of physical disability. Colonel
Smith's maternal great-grandfather was William Bradford Waddell, asso-
ciated with William Russell and A. H. Majors, founders, owners and oper-
ators of the Pony Express. His mother, Bettie, daughter of John Waddell,
was born in Lexington, Missouri, where were situated the headquarters of
the company.
Alvin Carl Weingand, from North Platte, Nebraska, is a graduate of the
University of California (1926) and a lieutenant commander in the U. S.
naval reserve. With Mr. Ronald Colman, he owns San Ysidro Ranch, Santa
Barbara, purchased in 1935 from the family of the former owner, Harleigh
Johnston. Mr. Weingand is, himself, the ranch's manager. He is also presi-
dent of the Montecito Protective and Improvement Association— from its
title, a fighting but balanced organization, which gives him an opportunity
to implement his personal predilection for unhurried living and to expose
fallacious ideas about what constitutes "progress."
Correspondence: Richard H. Dillon, author of "Costs of the Modoc War"
in the June 1 949 Quarterly, writes us that in line 2 from the foot of page
162, the number of Modoc Indians captured in the lava beds should be 159
instead of 27.
%
CALIFORNIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Incorporated March 6, 1886 Reorganized March 27, 1922
« BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Aubrey Drury, President
Joseph R. Knowland, First Vice-President
r^ Morton R. Gibbons, Second Vice-President
Francis P. Farquhar, Third Vice-President
Warren Howell, Secretary
George L. Harding, Treasurer
K. K. Bechtel Allen L. Chickering Mrs. Elizabeth Gray Potter
Garner A. Beckett Ralph H. Cross Porter Sesnon
Anson S. Blake A. T. Leonard, Jr. Mrs. Daniel Volkmann
CoTftmittee on Special Publications: Francis P. Farquhar, Chairman; Allen L. Chick-
ering, William W. Clary, George L. Harding, Miss Caroline Wenzel, Carl I. Wheat,
Lynn T. White, Jr.
Committee on Membership and Publicity: Joseph R. Knowland, Chairman; Aubrey
Drury, Henry F. Dutton, Morton R. Gibbons, Edgar M. Kahn, George H. Kress,
Miss Else Schilling, Joe G. Sweet.
Committee on Luncheon Meetings: Anson S. Blake, Chairman; Mrs. Mae Helene
Bacon Boggs, Mrs. Georges de Latour, Aubrey Drury, Morton R. Gibbons, Mrs. James
Jenkins, Mrs. Gerald D. Kennedy, Mrs. Alice B. Maloney, Loren B. Taber, Mrs.
Daniel Volkmann.
Conmtittee on Rooms and Exhibits: Warren Howell, Chairman; Mrs. A. J. Bancroft,
A. T. Leonard, Jr., Miss Frances M. Molera, Albert Shumate, Lee L. Stopple, Mrs.
J. J. Van Nostrand.
Conrmittee on Historic Names and Sites: A. T. Leonard, Jr., Chairman; Mrs. Mae
Helene Bacon Boggs, Clarence Coonan, Ralph H. Cross, Edgar B. Jessup.
Committee on Library and Gifts: Ralph H. Cross, Chairman; Mrs. Mae Helene
Bacon Boggs, Miss Edith Coulter, Augustin S. Macdonald, Thomas W. Norris, Ed-
ward Porter Pfingst, A. T. Shine, Chester W. Skaggs, Mrs. J. J. Van Nostrand, Leon
Whitsell.
CoTTtmittee on Finance: K. K. Bechtel, Chairman; Allen L. Chickering, Francis P.
Farquhar, C. R. Tobin, Mrs. Daniel Volkmann.
Patron Members
Mrs. Wallace Alexander
Miss Edith W. Allyne
Miss Lucy H. Allyne
K. K. Bechtel
Mrs. Irving Berlin
Anson S. Blake
Mrs. M. H. B. Boggs
Mrs. William Cavalier
Allen L. Chickering
William W. Crocker
Mrs. Edward L. Doheny
Sidney M. Ehrman
Mrs. Sidney M. Ehrman
James Flood
Raymond C. Force
Miss Margaret A. Jacks
C. O. G. Miller
Henry D. Nichols
Mrs. William B. Roth
Mrs. Henry Potter Russell
Miss Else Schilling
Rudolph Schilling
Porter Sesnon
Tallant Tubes
Mrs. Daniel Volkmann
Miss Johanna Volkmann
WiLLARD O. WayMAN
Mrs. John Payson Adams
Mrs. Merritt Adamson
Hugh S. Allen
Mrs. Leonora Wood Armsby
John B. F. Bacon
Philip A. Bailey
Wakefield Baker
Mrs. William P. Baker
Paul Bancroft
Philip Bancroft
Bank of America
Garner A. Beckett
Mrs. Frank Bennett
Miss Hope Bliss
Leon Bocqueraz
John D. Bradley
J. R. Brehm
Mrs. Julia Fox Brooke
Mrs. Carlton Bryan
W. S. Burnett
Sustaining Members
Mrs. George Cadwalader
George T. Cameron
Mrs. Henry Cartan
Selah Chamberlain, Jr.
Harold S. Chase
Bruce Church
Mrs. Edmond D. Coblentz
Mrs. John Philip Coghlan
Peter Cook, Jr.
Frederick C. Cordes, M.D.
Mrs. Talmage Burton Crane
Ralph H. Cross
Homer D. Crotty
Mrs. Richard Y. Dakin
Edw^ard a. Dickson
Lloyd Dinkelspiel
Mrs. Hugh T. Dobbins
Miss Christine Donohoe
T. G. Douglas
Altbrey Drury
Henry F. Dutton
Stanly A. Easton
Mrs. Camille J. Ehrenfels
Amos W. Elliott
Herbert Eloesser
Charles Elsey
Mrs. Milton H. Esberg
Harry H. Fair
Francis P. Farquhar
James Farraher
Paul B. Fay
H. G. Fenton
Roland C. Foerster
C. E. Fryer
Morton R. Gibbons, M.D.
Mrs. Frank R. Girard
Albert H. Gorie
Mrs. Joseph T. Grace
Allen Griffin
Timothy Dwight Hunt and His Wedding Records
By Clifford M. Drury
O
N October 29, 1 848, the Rev. Timothy Dwight Hunt, a New School
Presbyterian minister, arrived in San Francisco. He was the first
Protestant clergyman to settle in California who gave his full time
to religious work. Previous to his coming, there were at least three other
Protestant ministers in California.^ The Rev. Walter Colton, a navy chap-
lain and a Congregational clergyman, was serving as alcalde at Monterey.
Another Congregationalist, the Rev. Chester Lyman, was engaged in sur-
veying; he is known to have had some physical disability which prevented
him from carrying on the work of a minister. The third clergyman, an Epis-
copalian, was the Rev. T. M. Leavenworth, who had arrived in San Fran-
cisco in the spring of 1 847, as chaplain of Col. J. D. Stevenson's regiment.
Leavenworth was also a physician, and after severing his connection with
the regiment shortly after his arrival, he resumed his practice. In August
1 848, he was elected alcalde of San Francisco.^
Timothy Dwight Hunt was born at Rochester, N. Y., on March 10, 182 1,
and was named after the famous Timothy Dwight of Yale. As might be ex-
pected, with such a name. Hunt attended Yale and was graduated with the
class of 1 840. He then went to Auburn Theological Seminary and completed
his three-year course there in 1843. On November first of that year he mar-
ried Miss Mary Hedges.^ Having been ordained by the Presbytery of Gene-
see in 1843, Dwight (as he preferred to be called by his friends) Hunt and
his wife sailed on December fourth for Hawaii as missionaries. The sea voy-
age took more than seven months and they did not arrive until July 1 844.'*
After four years. Hunt severed his connection with the mission and began
his ministry with a group of interested American citizens in Honolulu. His
work was just opening up in a promising way when the news of the dis-
covery of gold in California reached Hawaii. Hunt noted in his journal that
at once "the work of depopulation" commenced. He wrote that the first to
leave were "the scum of society." However, with further news about the
richness of the gold fields, the excitement "began to work up into the higher
classes, breaking up the foundations of mechanical and mercantile opera-
tions." The result was soon disastrous to Hunt's cherished plans for a strong
church for white people in Honolulu. Since most of his congregation had
left for California, Hunt decided to follow.
I After making provision for his wife and two little children, Hunt boarded
the Honolulu on October 10, 1848, for California. The vessel anchored at
Sausalito on Saturday, October twenty-eighth, and moved the next day
across the bay to Yerba Buena (re-named San Francisco in the spring of
1847). In deference to Sunday, Hunt did not go ashore that day. He was
289
290 Calif ornia Historical Society Quarterly
informed that news of his coming had preceded him, and that a group of
interested citizens would give him a warm welcome. On Monday, October
thirtieth, he secured quarters in the home of a merchant, C. L. Ross, who
was a devout Baptist; and within the next twenty-four hours Hunt was
called upon to officiate at the funeral of a Mr. Macdonald, "a merchant of
this place." Thereafter, his services at funerals were often requested four or
five times a week.
A meeting of all interested citizens was called for the evening of Wednes-
day, November first, at the schoolhouse on Portsmouth Square. Hunt was
given a copy of the minutes of the meeting which he copied into his journal.
They read as follows:
A meeting of the subscribers to the fund for the maintenance of a Chaplain at San
Francisco was held on Wed. eve. Nov. ist 1848 at the Public Institute.
Edwd H. Harrison, Esq. vi^as appointed Chairman & Saml Creighton, Esq. Secretary.
The meeting was addressed by Messrs Ross & Gillespie, who stated the object of the
meeting. After other remarks pertinent to the occasion, & complimentary to the Rev.
T. Dwight Hunt recently arrived from Honolulu, the meeting proceeded to elect Trus-
tees, viz:
C. E. Wetmore Joseph Bowden C. L. Ross
C. V. Gillespie E. H. Harrison
E. H. Harrison, Esq. was then appointed Treasurer.
A vote of thanks was tendered to W. F. Swasey, Esq. for the present of a very hand-
some & richly finished Bible intended for the Chaplaincy.
Twenty five hundred (2500) dollars were then appropriated as the salary of the Chap-
Iain for one year from this date (Nov. ist) & a resolution passed that, the balance of the
funds be retained for incidental expenses.
It was moved and seconded That the office of Chaplain to the citizens of San Francisco
be tendered to the Rev. T. Dwight Hunt for one year. (Carried)
Moved & seconded That the rehgious exercises on the Sab. be conducted at the Public
Institute, Portsmouth Square, & that the Trustees be hereby requested to arrange with
the school Commissioners for the use of the Hall.— (Carried)
Moved & seconded that the meeting adjourn.
^ „ ^ , E. H. Harrison, Chairman
Sml Creighton, Sec y.
The idea of ministering to the Protestants of San Francisco on an inter-
denominational rather than a denominational basis appealed to Hunt. He
held his first service in the schoolhouse on Sunday, November 5, 1848.
Eighty-seven men and three women made up his first audience. On Sunday,
January 7, 1849, Hunt conducted what he claimed in his journal to have
been the first Protestant communion service in San Francisco. In all proba-
bility this was the first such service held in California.
Other Protestant ministers began to arrive early in 1 849. The first was a
Methodist pastor from Oregon, the Rev. C. O. Hosford, at whose marriage
Hunt officiated (see No. 3). The couple left soon afterward for Oregon.
The arrival of the S5. California, the latter part of February, brought three
Presbyterian missionaries and one Baptist to California.^ Others arrived in
T. D. Hunt and His Wedding Records 291
the months following. Writing in his journal on February 25, 1849, Hunt
commented:
My heart has this day been made glad with the tidings of two missionaries of the
A.H.M.S. [American Home Missionary Society] in the steamer "California." I will give
them cordially the hand of fellowship & a warm welcome. But we have no churches.
There is as yet no church organization in the whole country, except the Catholic.^
With the coming of missionaries sent by the different mission boards, it
was inevitable that denominational churches should be established. Hunt was
cordial to these incoming missionaries and often invited them to speak to his
congregation in the schoolhouse. One by one the denominational churches
were organized, each drawing from the participants in Hunt's congregation.
The first to be officially organized in San Francisco, with a resident and
fully ordained pastor, was the First Presbyterian Church. This was formed
under the leadership of the Rev. Albert Williams on May 20, 1849. On July
sixth, a Baptist Church was organized by the Rev. O. C. Wheeler; and on
the twenty-second of that month, the Rev. F. S. Mines founded the Protes-
tant Episcopal parish of Holy Trinity. The Rev. William Roberts, Meth-
odist superintendent for Oregon and California, visited San Francisco and
other places in California in June and July, and on September 22, 1849, the
Rev. William Taylor arrived in the city to take charge of this work. With
his congregation thus breaking up into denominational groups. Hunt de-
cided that it was best to complete a similar organization. Accordingly, on
July 29, 1849, he formed the First Congregational Church of San Francisco,
although he himself retained his Presbyterian connections throughout the
rest of his ministry.
The New School branch of the Presbyterian Church was the first denomi-
nation to complete an all-state organization by the setting up of the Pres-
bytery of San Francisco at Monterey on September 21,1 849, with Hunt as
moderator. When the two branches of the Presbyterian Church joined in
1870, the name of this presbytery was taken by the ministers and churches
in San Francisco.
Hunt kept a wedding record, which listed the seventy-nine services he
performed in San Francisco during 1849- 1856. The names of the parties,
with the fees received from them, follow. In making the transcription, con-
secutive numbering of the entries has been inserted for purposes of refer-
ence; and, to conserve space, display of the contracting parties' names on
separate lines, as in the original, has been omitted; also omitted, is the word
"Mr." before each bridegroom's name, in conformity with Hunt's own
usage in his first two entries. The letter "P.," accompanied by a date and
enclosed in brackets, signifies membership of the bridegroom in the Society
of California Pioneers and the date of his arrival in California (data from
Centennial Roster, Walter C. Allen, ed., San Francisco, May i, 1948).
292
California Historical Society Quarterly
1849
Jan. 9, San Francisco, Tues. eve. Robert S. S. Wood to Frances E.
Merril. Fee $20.
Jan. 14, San Francisco, Sab. eve. Robert F. Peckham to Ann Elisabeth
Smith. Fee $10. [P., Aug. 30, 1846]
3. March 14. Rev. C. O. Hosford (of Oregon Methodist) to Miss Ase-
neth Glover. Fee $0.00.
May 30, in a tent at San Francisco. Christopher Layton to Miss Mar-
tha Otterson. Fee $10— & for certificate (in gold dust) $16.
June 9, San Francisco. John Bigle[y?] to Miss Caroline Smith. Fee
$19. The man who said "What's the Language."
June 23, San Francisco. Isaac Thompson (Col'd) to Miss Petronila.
Fee $ 1 6.
7. June 26, San Francisco. Alfred Augustus Green to Miss Dolores
Leyorcita. Fee $16. [P., Mar. 7, 1847]
8. July 9, at Happy Valley, San Francisco. W. D. M. Howard to Miss
Agnes Poett. Fee $50. [P., Jan. i, 1839]
Aug. 5, at Mr. Hatter's house. William Fuller to Miss Ellen Canfield.
Fee $16.
[At this point, the Rev. Mr. Hunt strikes a total of fees received to the
amount of $173.]
10. Oct. 2 1, on board a Brig Arabian. Mr. Higgins to Mrs. Lathrop. Fee
$15.
1850
1 1. March 19. David Earle to Miss Mary Louise Rowland. Fee $16.
12. March 21. John Sturreneger [John Sturzenneger? ] to Miss Rosina
Zopfe. Fee 1 1 5.
1 3. April 20. Jacob Addis to Miss Julia Green. Nothing but a promise.
14. May 22. Henry Smith to Miss Emily Alexander. Fee $16. [P.,
Sept. 17, 1849]
15. June 22. Okina to Hana— both Hawaiians. Fee $12.
16. July ^. Joseph Shannon Woodville to Miss Ann Goldfellen. Fee
17
18
19
20.
21.
22.
23-
24.
July 3-
$16.
July 31-
Oct. II.
Oct. 28.
John (Col'd) to Miss (Chilen). Fee
James Oswall to Miss Rosale Karabahal. Fee $10.
Whitney to Miss Emma Jane Merrill. Fee $10.
1851
Fee $20.
Fee $10.
June 26. Robert Classon to Miss Eva Schneider.
July 2. Stephen Davis to Miss Elizabeth Stace.
July 1 1. John Boyd to Miss Anne Dean. Fee
Aug. 23. Edwin Spicer to Miss Mary Ann Burke. Fee $10.
Aug. 27. Henry A. Freer to Mrs. Mary A. Tolle. Fee $20.
T, D. Hunt and His Wedding Records 293
25. Sept. 2. Charles H. Hay don to Miss Eliza Holmes. Fee I20.
26. Sept. 3. Henry A. Shaw to Miss Margaret McGrath. Fee $10.
27. Sept. 12. Wm. W. Neil to Miss Sophia Louderback. Fee $16.
28. Sept. 17, on board of the "Flying Cloud." Reuben P. Bryce of Port-
land, O. T., to Miss Ellen F. Lyon of Boston. Fee $ 1 6.
I 29. Oct. 12. James Price to Miss Mary Anne Duffie (Col'd). Fee $5.
30. Oct. 15. James Williams to Miss Harriet Lewis. Fee $10. [Man of
'» same name, P., Oct. 1843, and brother of Isaac, was married by T. O.
Larkin to Mary Patterson in Aug. 1845, according to Bancroft's Pio-
neer Register. ]
31. Nov. 26, aftn. John Roach to Miss Ann Mackay. Fee $20.
1852
32. March i, at church in the eve. John C. Forey to Miss Annie Bartlett.
Fee $20.
33. March 10. Wm. B. May to Mrs. Mary E. Inskeep. Fee $20.
34. June 13. Capt. Wm. Berrill to Miss Maria Lucas. Fee $10.
35. Sept. 13. Abraham W. Harris to Miss Hannah Bucknell. Fee $16.
36. Nov. 17. Chas. R. Story to Miss Caroline P. Bailey. Fee $50. [P.,
Sept. 17, 1849]
37. Dec. 4. Wm. B. Reeve to Miss Mary Ann McDonald. Fee $25.
38. Dec. 17. Francis Theodore Wetsel of Basel to Mrs. Frederika W.
Amalia Merkel of Marburg, Hesse. Fee $20. [P., Aug. 18, 1849]
1853
39. Jan. 1 1. Theodore A. Barry to Miss Eliza M. Sharp. Fee $20.
40. May 26. James Marsh to Miss Mary A. Ranney. Fee $10.
41. June 23. John Roome Lewis to Miss Frances M. Fotheringhame.
Fee $20.
42. June 27. Bernard Roenswig [Rozenswig?] to Miss Josephine Dyer.
Fee $30.
43. July 3. Henry S. Warren to Maria L. Hamblin. Fee $ 10. [P., Sept.
1849]
44. Aug. 4. Edward A. Kent to Miss Abba Ward. Fee I20.
45. Sept. 8. Benedict Marti to Miss Anna Barbara Weber (both of Swit-
zerland). Fee $20.
46. Oct. 15. James Brooks to Miss Oceana Fisher. Fee $25. [P., Oct.
9, 1849]
47. Oct. 1 8. John L. Haas to Miss Mary Reid. Fee $15.
48. Oct. 19. John Sime to Miss Mary L. Toland. Fee $50.
49. Oct. 24. Fred Leppien to Miss Elizabeth Deighton. Fee $24. [P.,
Dec. 15, 1849]
50. Dec. I. Henrick Gerstung to Miss Hermine Bohmer. Fee $20.
51. Dec. 20. Stephen Henry Chase to Elizabeth P. Dunlap. Fee Si 6.
2 94 Calif ornia Historical Society Quarterly
52. Dec. 22. Geo. Hudson, Esq. to Miss Elliott. Fee $20.
53. Dec. 24. Joseph Houston Kimmel to Miss Elizabeth Frances Haiwa-
cott. Fee $10.
1854
54. Jan. II. John L. Woolsey to Miss Rosa W. Meyer. Fee $50.
§^. Feb. 17. Stephen Jamison to Miss Anna Smith. Fee $10.
§6. March 4. Robert Von Carnap (Eberfeld of Germany) to Miss Re-
becca Holle. Fee $20.
57. March 28. Chas. Edwd. Bingham to Miss Emily Thome. Fee $20.
58. April II. Fredk. George Merchant to Miss Theresa Leonora Pera-
beau. Fee $24. [P., Oct. 9, 1849]
59. April 12. Saml. C. Grove to Miss Fannie A. Allen. Fee $50.
60. April 13. Saml. Doty to Miss Frances McLean. Fee $20.
61. May 28. Richard Schmadcke to Miss Margaret Bell. Fee $20.
62. June 9. John Murray to Miss Susan Bain. Fee $ 1 5.
63. Aug. 3 1 . Thomas J. A. Chambers to Miss Caroline Wilson. Fee $50.
[P., Apr. 28, 1849]
64. Sept. 20. Robt. C. Page to Miss Delia F. Williams. Fee $25.
6$. Oct. 17. Wm. S. Ladd to Miss Caroline A. Elliott. Fee $25.
66. Nov. 12. Rev. Fredk. Mooshake to Miss Rebecca Lein. Free.
67. Nov. 27. Leander Beauchamp to Miss Madora Sylve. Fee $10.
68. Dec. 24. Danl. V[an] B. Henarie to Mrs. Mary A. Hosley. Fee $20.
[P., Dec. I, 1849]
69. Dec. 25. Alfred L. Tubbs to Miss Elizabeth R. Chapin. Fee $50.
1855
70. Jan. 5. Wm. Steven to Miss Isabella Sinclair. Fee $10.
71. Jan. 9. John H. Brennen to Miss Ann Sharp. Fee 1 10.
72. May 5. Gottlieb Ludwig Gustave Ris [Reis?] to Miss Louisa Philip-
pina Merkel. Fee $20. [If Gustave Reis, then P., Sept. i, 1849]
73. Oct. 25. David Trembley to Miss Mary Matilda Kroh. Fee $20.
74. Dec. 29. Ed. T. Batturs to Miss Eliza Waters. Fee $30.
1856
75. March 6. Lorin Robertson to Miss Helen Carswell. Fee $25.
76. March 31. Warren B. Mead to Miss Sarah P. Sears. Fee $20. [P.,
Aug. 30, 1849]
77. May 1 1. Lewis T. Grant to Miss Mary E. Myrick. Fee $23.
78. July I. Joseph N. H. Waters to Miss Mary Louisa Barker. Fee $20.
79. July 3. Benjamin R. Crocker to Mrs. Rosanna Martin. Fee $10.
There are a number of interesting names among these seventy-nine bride-
grooms. W. D. M. Howard (No. 8) was one of the first of San Francisco's
T. D. Hu72t and His Wedding Records 295
successful business men.^ John Sime (No. 48) had, the year before his mar-
riage, been elected to the California Assembly.^ Charles Edward Bingham
(No. 57) and his wife were both connected with the theater, he as manager
of a theater on Clay Street in San Francisco, and she as an actress at the
Tehama Theater in Sacramento, 1850-51.^ William S. Ladd (No. 6^) be-
came one of the leading capitalists of Portland, Oregon.^^ The next wedding
was that of the Rev. Frederick Mooshake, the first Lutheran pastor to engage
in work for those of his faith in San Francisco.^^ Edward T. Batturs (No. 74)
was elected tax collector of San Francisco in May 1 855, some six months be-
fore his wedding.^^
Hunt remained as pastor of the First Congregational Church of San Fran-
cisco until January 7, 1855. He then accepted a position as missionary under
the American Home Missionary Society and spent two more years in Cali-
fornia. His new work took him into the mining communities. On one of
these trips he visited Sutter's Mill at Coloma. Under date of January 24, 1 855,
he wrote in his journal:
. . . visited . . . the old Sutter's Mill in the digging of the race-way of which gold was
discovered. The two posts in the race-way which were to support the gate still stand,
between which the first lump (weighing about 8 ozs) was picked up. I went down &
stood there & imagined myself in possession of the key which opened to the world this
great treasury. The mill itself is in ruins, the frame exposed, & going rapidly to decay,
a portion only of whose roof still remains & under which a few Chinese have found a
shelter. Nearly all of the old building that was suitable for such a purpose has been taken
away & converted into canes. What remains of the old structure should be more carefully
preserved. Certainly the citizens of C. should not permit the Chinese to hasten ruin by
cutting up its falling timbers for fire wood. It is the great lion of California & it should
be in a measure kept sacred as a place of resort for all lovers of Cala antiquities. An iron
enclosure should be made around the old spot where the first nugget was discovered,
that long after the old timbers have gone to decay the very race-way & stones & sand
where the gold was imbedded may be pointed out to the stranger and traveller.
The man who made the discovery was a German. His widow still lives there, & has in
her possession the identical gold first picked up. She has refused $1000. for it, & lives on
the hope of some future sale for a much larger sum. It should be purchased by the State
& placed in a public cabinet as the choicest of our antiquities.^ ^
Hunt returned to New York state in the latter part of 1 856 or the first part
of 1857. He served as pastor of a Presbyterian church in Ithaca from 1857 ^^
1859. Here, according to his wedding record, he performed nine marriages.
He then moved to Waterville, New York, where he remained until 1 865
and officiated at thirty marriages. Next he served a Presbyterian church
at Niles, Michigan, from 1865 to 1871. That this was a busy pastorate is re-
flected in the fact that he recorded 129 weddings. Thus his wedding record
book shows a total of 238 services performed after he left California. The
volume closes with the records of 187 1. Hunt served other churches in New
York to the time of his retirement in 1894. He died at Whitesboro, New
York, on February 7, 1895, and was buried at Waterville.^*
296 California Historical Society Quarterly
NOTES
1. Arrivals in this far-western field, previous to Oct. 1848, are given in C. M. Drury,
"A Chronology of Protestant Beginnings in California," this Quarterly, XXVI (June
1947), 164-67.
2. See "The Gregson Memoirs," this Quarterly, XIX (June 1940), 123, for account
of aid given by Leavenworth to Mrs. Gregson's baby in Oct. 1847: ". . . he was very kind
& would take no pay. . . ." See also letter dated Sept. 30, 1847, from W. T. Sherman to
Leavenworth, thanking him for kindness toward sick and abandoned sailors in San
Francisco, 31st Cong., ist sess., H. Ex. Doc. 17 (Ser. 573), p. 360.
3. General Biographical Catalogue of Auburn Theological Se?ninary, 1818-1918
(Auburn, N. Y., 1918), p. 88.
4. The late Dr. George Hunt, a Presbyterian minister and son of Timothy Dwight
Hunt, turned his father's journals and other papers over to the present author in 1941,
for deposit in the archives of the San Francisco Theological Seminary at San Anselmo.
Much of the material of this article has been taken from these original sources.
5. Drury, "Chronology . . .," op. cit., pp. 168-69.
6. Hunt's "Journal," as in note 4 above, I, p. 238.
7. Mention of his first sight and courtship of Miss Poett is made by Gertrude Howard
Whitwell, in "William Davis Merry Howard," this Quarterly, XXVII (Sept. 1948), 249.
8. Soule et al, Annals of San Francisco (New York, 1855), p. 406.
9. Ibid., p. 657.
10. H. H. Bancroft, History of Oregon (San Francisco, 1888), p. 764.
11. The Pacific, June 24, 1853, reports the arrival of Mooshake in San Francisco to
initiate religious work among the Germans. The account states: ". . . no effort of this
kind has before been made." The present St. Mark's Evangelical Lutheran Church of
San Francisco claims to be a continuation of the work begun in 1853 by Mooshake.
12. Dorothy H. Huggins, ed., Continuation of the Annals of San Francisco (this Soci-
ety, Spec. Pub. No. 15, 1939), p. 45.
13. Hunt's "Journal," op. cit., IV, 35 ff.
14. See note 4 above.
The Burrell Letters
Edited, with Introduction and Notes
By Reginald R. Stuart
INTRODUCTION
WITH a few exceptions, the letters transcribed below were written
by Clarissa Wright Burrell (b. South Canaan, Connecticut, Aug.
31, 1805), the eighth of the children of Elizur Wright, and the
second child by his second wife, Clarissa Richards.^
Elizur Wright was of English stock. He was a Calvinist, a graduate ( 1 78 1 )
of Yale College, where he began wearing a Phi Beta Kappa key in his junior
year, and was said to have been "eminent for his piety, his mathematical
ability, and his public spirit." The ancestors of his second wife were sea
captains. Such of her letters as have been examined indicate that she was of
superior mentality, deeply religious like her husband, but she appears to have
had a pride which may have seemed worldly to some of her associates.^
In 1 8 10, when their daughter Clarissa was five years old, the family moved
by ox team and a horse-drawn carriage to Tallmadge, Summit County, Ohio,
in the Western Reserve,^ where they lived until Clarissa married Lyman J.
Burrell in 1839.*
Clarissa had been well educated— had even, according to the traditions of
the family, been a student for some time at Oberlin College.^ Two of her
sisters married ministers and two were the wives of doctors.® Her youngest
brother, James, became a Presbyterian minister and migrated to California
in 1869.''
Of all her family, the one who exerted the greatest influence on Clarissa's
life was her brother, Elizur, Jr., a Yale graduate, professor of mathematics
and natural philosophy in Western Reserve University, national secretary
of the Anti-Slavery Society, 1833-40, and owner or editor of abolitionist
journals. During the course of this latter work he was associated with Wil-
liam Lloyd Garrison and the poet Whittier. Besides his reforming interests
(woman's suffrage, insurance laws for protecting policy holders, etc.), he
was the translator of La Fontaine's fables, the foreign correspondent of a
number of New York and Boston papers during a summer spent in England,
and the first insurance commissioner of Massachusetts. He is remembered
today as the "Father of American Life Insurance."^
Thus, although Clarissa and her family seemingly were buried in the midst
of an Ohio forest, they were in reality quite alive to the issues of the day.^
They raised money, made clothing, helped escaped slaves across the Cana-
dian border, and were in the center of many open or covert movements for
abolition. ^^
Clarissa's husband, Lyman J. Burrell, was bom in Sheffield, Massachusetts,
297
298 Calif ornia Historical Society Quarterly
September 4, 1 80 1 , one of the eleven children of Jabez Burrell.^^ By 1 8 1 6 the
family had moved to Ohio where Lyman grew to maturity under usual
frontier conditions. Marrying a young widow with a daughter by her pre-
vious marriage, he settled on a hundred acre farm which had been given him
by his father.^^ When his wife died a few years later, he rented the farm and
moved to Elyria, the county-seat. Here he worked successively as a quarry-
man, stock-buyer, and a small manufacturer of lard and tallow oil, soap and
candles.^^ In 1839 he married Clarissa Wright and shortly afterward was
elected treasurer of Lorain County.^* Their son, Birney, was bom August
4, 1 840, and their daughters, Martha and Clara, during the following years.^^
With the close of Burrell's term as a county official came news of the dis-
covery of gold in California. Each month the magnitude of the find in-
creased. By the spring of 1849 the urge to try his luck in the gold fields
became irresistible. Burrell left his business affairs in charge of his wife and
tenants and started on the overland journey early the next spring.^^
He entered California via the Lassen Trail^^ and passes over the hardships
of the journey with the comment:
Nothing of much consequence occurred to me on the way except one accident which
happened on the plains. Being tempted away from my train by wild beasts, a premature
shot of my gun took off one of my fingers. As I had plenty of time to nurse it, I soon
recovered; and, as it came from my left hand, I did not consider it of much consequence.
I was able to work as soon as we reached our destination.^^
In the winter of 1850-51 Burrell returned to Ohio with $2000 in gold
dust.^^ A year later he made his second journey to California where he began
farming near Alviso, renting land from Cary Peebels in 1852 and from James
Lick the following year.^° When his wife and children joined him in the
early part of 1853, he ^^^ living at the home of J. T. Clarke, the second hus-
band of Mary Graves, a member of the Donner Party.^^
In straightforward fashion, the letters below tell their story and stop.
They lack the repetitious, moral declaimings which were characteristic of
many of the "Gold Rush" journals. In their description of the rigors of the
overland journey, of the varying success and vicissitudes of placer mining,
of the inevitable sickness, of the high cost of provisions, and of the haphazard
communication conditions in the new country, the letters are quite typical;
but in their recital of pioneer ranch life in the California foothills, particu-
larly of the Coast Range, they are unique. In addition, the letters record the
part played by the wife and mother who remained at home, and upon whose
shoulders devolved the task of turning home and household goods into cash
for the final removal of the family to California.
Few of those who migrated to California in the 1840's and 1850's were
professional miners. They and their friends were by practice and affection,
farmers. After the first rush to the placers, these ex-miner farmers either re-
turned home or looked about for locations where once more they might
The Burr ell Letters 299
cultivate the soil. They found a peculiar situation. They saw great unde-
veloped valleys, as rich as any in the world, owned or claimed by the native
Calif ornians. For most of the impoverished miners, however, the broad acres
had little to offer. Titles were clouded, unfenced crops were destroyed
by wild cattle, years of hard work might lead neither to ownership nor
prosperity.
But bordering these valleys were hundreds of square miles of foothill and
mountain land, outside the Spanish grants; this was the public domain. For
thousands of home-seekers, the public domain appeared to be the solution
of their urgent and immediate problem. Many of them pushed into the hills
and established their homes in supposedly-safe locations outside the rancho
limits. Today most of these early mountain farming settlements are gone
and forgotten. Whole communities with schools, churches, stores, and post-
offices have disappeared. It is believed that these letters may help to preserve
some memory of the beginnings of one of the most interesting and more
fortunate of these mountain settlements.
When Burrell found that the valley climate was harmful for his wife's
health and that land titles were hopelessly unresolved; and, finally, when he
saw wild cattle destroy his potato crop, he waited no longer but moved with
his family into the Santa Cruz Mountains where, during the previous winter,
he had filed a homestead on what he thought was government land and had
commenced construction of a redwood house on a wooded ridge near the
summit.^^ The house was soon completed. But though prosperity came to this
pioneer family through hard work and frugality, the mother's health did
not improve. She milks, and makes butter, and gardens; she acts as house-
keeper and mid-wife for her step-daughter; and she notices the trends of
state and national affairs, the beginnings of educational and religious activi-
ties, and records the beauty and tranquillity of her mountain home, but says
little of her health. Even her son, Birney, who kept an intermittent diary
from the time the family left for California, has but a casual entry devoted to
his mother's final illness. It reads: "Tuesday [February] 10 [1857] . . .
Mother is going to stay down in the valley for several weeks to go through
a course of medicine " From May 28 to October 25 of that year, Birney 's
diary is blank. It may have been during this period that consumption claimed
its victim, for the family has no record of the date in 1857 upon which she
died. And, beyond the fact that she was buried on the ranch, no one now
remembers the exact location of her grave.^^
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
Grateful acknowledgment is made to many members of Clarissa Burrell's family and
to numerous pioneers who have given time and effort to make the notes accurate. Par-
ticularly is the annotator indebted to Henry H. Norton for his initial loan of the letters
themselves; also to Mrs. Clara B. Hirsch who furnished additional letters, together with
the early diaries of her father Birney Burrell, an etching of the first Burrell home in the
300 California Historical Society Quarterly
mountains, and a typed copy of her grandfather's reminiscences. Special thanks are ex-
tended likewise to Mrs. C. M. Thompson, William Q. Wright, Erie T. Smith, William
Adams, Mrs. John A. Wood, "Tass" Ryland, A. H. Bell, William B. Weston, and Frazier
Reed, for assistance in various matters relating to the letters.
[Mrs. Clarissa BurrelP* to Mrs. Amelia Hanford,^^
Tallmadffe, Portage County, Ohio]
_ ^ . / Etyfia Feb 28th 1850
Dear Friends
I know your anxiety to hear what news I receive from my hus-
band, so I take the liberty to write, or rather I comply with your request;
the fifteenth of this month I received a letter dated the fourth of December
and mailed at Sacramento City the seventeenth- It is the first letter I have
received from my husband since his arrival in California I suppose he was
waiting to hear from me as he had twice requested me to write and direct to
San Francisco The letter which I commensed and James-^ finished when
I was sick last August had just come to hand; his anxiety was some what
releived by a letter received by Mr HalP^ of a few days later date, saying
I had been very sick but was better. He says of their journey from the City
of the Salt Lake to that place, he could give but a faint description on paper
he could only say it was long and tedious,^^ especialy to their teams, they
were so fortunate as to lose but one of theirs, it tired out on one of the long
deserts over which they had to pass, one of them was sixty miles, without
grass or water for their cattle, the last ten being the dry bed of a salt lake,
the reflection of the heat at noon was almost intolerable, although but few
teams had passed before them, the dead and tired out cattle were lying quite
thick, all the water for several miles after crossing this desert issued from
boiling springs, into which several cattle had plunged and were scalded to
death.
In describing their rout, he says they passed along the eastern rim of
the great basin from the Salt Lake City north 100 miles to the crossing of the
Bear river, after crossing turned west along the north rim to the head of the
Humbolt or Sinking Marys^^ river, down which they passed 250, within 40
miles of the sink or where the river looses its self in the sand; then north west
on the Oregon Trail and crossed the Siera Nevada near the Oregon line the
last day of August, they then turned South, and traveled over and through
mountains about twenty days, reached the valley of the Sacremento Sept
22nd, 150 miles north of Sutters fort. Mr. Burrell then left the company and
passed up the Sacremento 70 or 80 miles exploring,^^ after two weeks ab-
sence he returned and joined the company on Feather river, the young
men in his absence had collected gold enough to buy a waggon load of pro-
vision, and two of them left the next day for Sacremento City near Sutters
fort, with two waggons for their winters supply of provisions, and Mr.
Burrell started for a placer 1 2 miles above, where they leave their waggons,
and from which point they carry all their provision etc on their own backs
The Burr ell Letters 3 o i
or on mules, when he arrived at the placer he found Peter (one of the
young men who went with him) sick lying wrapped up in his blanket, with
nothing but an oak tree to shelter him from the rain with which he had been
drenched two nights in succession, he had called a physician who had pre-
scribed calomel ipecac opium etc as they were obliged to send to the wag-
gon encampment for medicine, it did not get there until Mr Burrell did; he
concluded not to take it but let Mr Burrell try his skill with cold water;^^
he succeeded in procuring an old tent, the weather became fine and after a
few applications of the wet sheet he was so far restored as to be able to work,
he soon over did and was down again, after an absence of about two weeks
the young men returned from the City sick with chill fever; after several
relapes they recovered so far as to be able to go to work; during which time
Mr Burrell says he went to work in good earnest, or they might starve, 3
out of 4 sick, their provision very high and to be carried 1 2 miles on their
backs over one of the worst of mountains; he went to work with a pan col-
lecting about $42 per day, once a week going to the waggons for provisions,
after a few weeks they commensed draining the river to obtain the gold
from the bottom, they commenced on Monday, by diging the bank
down on one side and throwing a dam across, they succeeded so well that
on Saturday they took out $400 worth, on Monday forenoon Mr Burrell
picked up $170 in lumps from one to $38 worth, in a week they took out
$1,200, to be divided between six of them; when the rain commenced and
drove them from their work, they expected so soon as the river should fall
low enough to begin their work again. The rain commenced the 2nd of Nov
gently at first, but continued to increase untill it poured for two or three
days and nights, they had no shelter but a poor tent which let the water in
from the top, while the streams runing down from the hills saturated them
from beneath, during this rain Mr Burrell was attacked with a diarreah
which soon ran into the worst form of dysentary, he say thanks to dame
nature and a comfortable log house built by those who went with him, he
was then able to do a tolerable days work. He thinks the stories we have read
about the quantity of gold there are not exagerated, there is plenty of it only
it requires wise heads and hard knocks to get it. I left Sheffleld^^ on Tuesday
James and family in usual health; a time of some interest on the subject of
religion there.
Please give mine and the childrens love a general distribution.
Your sister Clarissa
Dear Friends ^^y™ Jan 2. st 185.
I have delayed writing to you very much longer than I intended
to, when Eliza^- first came home I was expecting a letter from Mr Burrell
soon and waited that I might have further news to communicate After
several weeks the letter came it brought no very cheering news Mr Bur-
302 California Historical So ciety Quarterly
rell had been suffering from repeated attacks of ague and fever for several
weeks, had not succeeded in his mining operations and pretty much lost the
last six months labor he had concluded not to come home this season. Said
he had sent me a letter and about all the gold he had on hand by a Mr Briggs^*
from Medina County and hoped I had made up my mind whether I would
come to California without his coming after me, and would let him know
immediately as he would not like to come home and find I had gone to Cali-
fornia. Mr Briggs arrived a week ago last Monday bringing the letters and
sixty ounces of the precious metal which he left at Philadelphia^^ to be
coined he said Mr Burrell wished him to do with it as he did with his own;
he could get only seventeen dollars per ounce for it at the brokers and as it
was all Feather river gold of the finest quality he thought it might bring us
over eighteen per ounce to have it coined; as it would be three or four weeks
before it could be done he left it to be sent on by express I shall probably
get it in about two weeks.
A week ago yesterday Mrs HalP® a neighbor of ours whose husband is at
San Francisco received a letter dated Dec ist saying Mr Burrell left the day
before for home as he took a sail vessel for Panama he would not get here
quite so soon as the mail I think should he have a prosperous voyage he
may be here the last of this week; he may not however be here for a month
yet, I do not know why he changed his mind about coming home; but I
do know, I am very glad he did so. Mr Burrell had received a letter from
Philo^^ but had not seen him when he wrote the 23rd of Oct I presume he
found him before he left. We shall probably visit our friends if the roads
are passable soon after Mr Burrell returns. I could not get the stockings
wove for two months when I carried them these I shall try to get them
done to carry should we visit you.
I was quite sorry Elvira could not content herself to stay and go to school
in Tallmadge this winter, she certainly improved very much in her be-
haviour the little time she was there, and I think if she had been careful not
to rub or iritate her eye it would not have troubled her much, we have
done nothing for it and it is now almost well, I hope she did not give you
a great deal of trouble while she was with you. I would gladly have spared
her for her own good, though I needed her help very much when she came
home, I had been rather imprudent and taxed my strength more than it
would bear and was suffering from an attack of dysentary a few days of
rest entirely relieved me and my health now is quite good. Our family are
well excepting Ann^^ brother R. ['s] oldest daughter, she has been confined
to her bed nearly three weeks with a congestive fever we think she is be-
gining to recover though very slowly. Eliza and the children^^ would send
love to their uncles aunts and cousins if awake.
Your affectionate Sister Clarissa
The Burr ell Letters 303
^ Tx , , Elyria Dec 25th 1851
Dear Husband ^ ^ ^
Your very welcome letter was received to day and I hasten
to reply, although I am rather tired, for we have been attending to butcher-
ing. So you will excuse my scattering thoughts and careless style and I will
tell you a few things just as they happen to come into my head. Your caution
* about eating meat and grease came just in time I think however we should
not have been likely to suffer much for brother R*° started for Cleveland
this afternoon with the pork leaving us only the rough lard and plucks;*^
pork has been fetching from ^Yt to six dollars per hundred, yesterday we
heard it had fallen to four sixty, what we shall get for it tomorrow I do
not know; brother thought they would average two hundred and fifty a
piece, I think they will be sure to bring money enough to pay our taxes.
Brother R has not yet been away with candles*^ he thinks of going next
week we have bought some rough tallow from an English butcher for five
cents per pound and have taken Judge Hamlins after it is rendered at seven
cents per pound. Mr Fretter'*^ has been to Cleveland with two loads of corn
and oats he gets twenty five cents per bushel for oats by measure, and
twelve and a half cents for half a bushel of ears of corn, he thought better
to dispose of the corn in that way than try to keep it over winter as our
meanes for keeping it are poor. We did not seem to be likely to have much
for Bimey** to do so I concluded to send him to school to Mr Mills I will
leave the rest of the story for him to tell himself as it is vacation*^ for a few
days and he will have plenty of time
I received a letter from Sister Lucy*^ yesterday, her health was improving
slowly she was confined at St Paul three weeks she wrote the next day
after arriving at Bell Prairie*^ they expected to winter there Mr Lewis
was assisting Mr Ayer to build him a new house they had commenced their
school with only nine schollars but were expecting more
[Dec] 26th We are living very much after the old style the winter
which I so much dreaded has arrived and is quite as uncomfortable as I ex-
pected; it has been the most tedious weather for lungs that I have known for
several years. Notwithstanding I should like your company very much I am
glad you are away where I hope the weather is not quite so cold; indeed I
think if it is the will of providence I shall be very thankfull to live in a
warmer climate.
Mr John Hall and Mr Briggs returned on board the same steamer you
went out on Mr Briggs I understand has gone back Mr Hall intends re-
turning he says any one who has lived two years in California will never
want to live in Ohio again. I think he advises Edwin,s*^ wife to go to him
rather than have him come to her I hope if she does go I can manage to go
with her
I would like very much to attend the lectures*^ in New York but I am
fearful I shall not have time to obtain funds and make the necessary prepara-
304 California Historical Society Quarterly
tion and get there in season. Those numbers of the journal and encyclopedia
you mentioned I think very interesting. We have very little temptation to
use meat for we seldom have it set before us. The children talk some of ab-
staining from all fleshly lusts but they think it would be rather hard to refuse
chicken or squirrel if it was set before them
Martha^^ and Clara^^ would like to have me write a separate letter for them
but they are fast asleep now and I shall not have time to write in the morning
You will accept an untold quantity of love from them and also from their
mother
Clarissa W Burrell
Do not fail to write often
Brother R has returned from Cleveland he got ninety dollars for the
hogs
Clara has just kissed the letter and wishes you to receive it warm from her
mouth
Elyria Feb 24th 1852
Dear Husband
I had been looking with great interest for the arrival of the
California mail, it came Saturday evening, Mr Turner called in to say that
Mr Wheeler in his letter to Mr Starr mentioned seeing you in Sacramento
that your health was improved no letter was found in our box, so I was
trying to content my self to wait two weeks longer I was really glad to
hear that you were safely there for I had been thinking of fierce gales and
burning steamboats &C not to speak of deadly fevers that prevail in that
country. Sabbath night Lewis went to the office and behold there was a
letter from you I need not tell you how much rejoiced I was to see it and
to learn from your own pen that your health was improved notwithstanding
the very unfavorable circumstances in which you had been placed. I think
we have great cause for thankfullness that you arrived safe amid so many
dangers I hope that you will continue to be prospered and happen to light
upon some rich mine of ore, if you should perhaps we might see you once
more on this side of the continent, though I should be almost afraid to have
you try the journey again, as much so as you would to have me come to you
I do not know as I am very particular where we live but I should like ver)^
much if we might live together some where; no doubt Providence will in
due season point out the place and I think that in the course of a year or so
if our lives are spared we shall find our-selves settled down in some quiet
little nook where we may instruct our little ones, do some good in the world,
and enjoy the blessings of our Heavenly Father I feel satisfy ed that it was
the direction of a kind Providence that led you to go to California this
season, for we have had an uncommonly cold winter thus far, and an un-
common amount of typhoid and lung complaints. Our family have been
well excepting colds of which I think no member has escaped, but thanks to
the use of cold water they are pretty much over with now I have felt very
The Burr ell Letters 305
thankful some of our cold days that you were where the weather was
warmer. Notwithstanding the dangers of the way if you think best and I
have the menes I think I have the courage to undertake the journey. Our
cousins Nathan, Henry and Harmon Stevens have been here separately this
winter Nathan and Harmon and his wife would like very much to go to
California they intend to go if they can or when they can obtain the menes
Nathan says if you could send him some thing to go with he would work
and pay y [ou] after he got there I had a letter from Sister Lucy last week
they were still at Bell Prairie her health was restored though she had been
suffering some from a soar eye but it was geting better, Lucy said it had
been proposed that they should remain there take charge of the storage
and forwarding of the mission goods^^ and take some children into their
family to educate, she says it makes little difference to her where she lives
while on earth if she only lives well. Her children said they would like to go
to California and live near us. her letter also brought the news of Mr Till-
dens death he died rather suddenly at St Paul. Lucy had not heard the par-
ticulars. Mr Lewis was complaining some but the children were quite well.
I have not received any letter from Boston since you left; the Common-
welth continues to come brother Elizur is now publisher and editor with
the assistance of a Mr List.^^ I think I will send you a number containing
some account of a great man from Hungary, (Governor Kossuth)^* who is
visiting our nation in hopes of obtaining some assistance to free his country
from the oppressors power and not only his country but all Europe from
the power of despots; he certainly appears to be the most honest great man
that has ever come along
I think the children have mentioned Joseph,s being here, he has given
up going to California for the present for want of menes, Samuel would
furnish the menes if he would give up his share in the home stead this
Joseph thinks he ought not to do, and I think Father Humphry would fare
rather hard if Samuel had the whole controll there. Mr Fretter continues to
do well on the farm, the winter has been a hard one for cattle and they have
required more feed than usual, so I shall not have as much grain for sale as
I expected but I think we shall get along very comfortably, since the taxes
are paid. I do not feel very much solicitude about any thing else. Perhaps
brother Robbins will write and tell you how he has managed. Brother James
and family are well as usual I have not heard from our friends in Tallmdge
lately I would like to have you try a little to find Philo The children will
send love in their own letters so mine will be burdened with none but my
own
Your Wife C
Mr Wheeler writes that Peter has made his appearance among them
lately I would like to know if it is really so
Your own dear Wife Clarissa
3o6 Calif orjjia Historical Society Quarterly
T^ TT u J Elyria March ^jd i8c2
Dear Husband -^ -* -*
Yours from Santa Clara bearing date Jan 30th made its ap-
pearance in this evenings mail, being only thirty three days on the way;
Well I am very glad you have gone into farming^^ I think it will be better
for your health than tramping all over the country; all I wish now is that
we were with you, if we could only squeeze ourselves into the mail we might
be there before the ground here would be ready for planting for it is still
covered with snow we have had an uncommon share of snow and cold
weather this season. I think I shall not be at all sorry to remove to a warmer
climate. Cousin Harmon Stevens spent last night with us, he thinks of
going to California the over land rout^^ this season and will take his family
if he can obtain the menes. A company from Michigan expect to set out in
about three weeks. The company is got up by a man who has lately returned
from California with his pockets full of the needfull he is going to take in
a drove of cows,^^ he offers to take passengers for a hundred and twenty five
dollars a head and find them, he has a spring waggon fitted up on purpose
for women and children, cousin Harmon thinks of going with this com-
pany; and I think if I had my hands full of cash, I and my children would
take a seat in that waggon too, and set off to find Pa but the cash is wanting
and I am not ready so this opportunity will have to pass. It seems almost an
impossibility for me to accumulate more than ten or twelve dollars and those
have very soon to be laid out in shoes or some thing else as necessary, it is
a very poor place here for any one to make money as you very well know.
I do not know as there is much to choose between the different routs for
California whether by the Isthmus, the Horn, Nicaragua, or over land
there are dangers and discomforts attending them all. There is such a rush
for California this season and the fare is so high that I [think] perhaps it will
be best for us to wait a while till the tide of emigration turns the other way,
you may be sure we are very anxious to be with you and shall make every
exertion to do so whenever we can obtain the menes. Eliza is still at Mr
Mill,s will stay through this month I suppose brother Robbins, and fam-
ily will move on to their farm next month though I have not heard them say
much about it I believe sister is not at all reconciled to going there They
are about building a meeting house in ShefHeld^^ have drawn the stone and
timber and think they shall get it up and enclosed this season
I wrote you a sheet full last week so I am rather short of news at present,
but I am determined your letters shall receive an immediate answer so I will
finish this up and prepare it for the mail to night Our family are in usual
health excepting Birney who is suffering from an attack of mumps I feel
in hopes he will not have them very severely if the children were awake
they would send much love to Pa
Your loving wife Clarissa
The Burr ell Letters 307
^, , , Elyria March 20th 1852
Dear Husband ^
As I think the mail leaves New York the 24th I will write you
a few lines if perchance they may be in season I answered your last imme-
diately I do not now recollect what I said about going to California only
I know that I am always ready to go as soon as an opportunity offers and
I have the means two very essential items to performing a journey I have
devised several ways in my own mind about procuring the means some of
which I will communicate to you I have thought of trying to loan some
money from the Oberlin^^ people and mortgaging this place as security
they have obtained their hundred thousand dollars collected some and are
wishing to loan it on good security as fast as they do collect it. Uncle Isaac
says he should rather not mortgage the place and thinks I might sell the out
lot I think perhaps he would like to buy it but he made me no offer I
think if I could sell it for fifty dollars per acre or perhaps more and sell the
stock on the farm and the candle moulds I might pick up money enough to
take us to CaHfornia without selling or mortgaging the place; and I do not
know either but you would rather I would sell the house and lots here than
the out lot. I do not think that property here will meet with a very ready
sale at present on account of the high taxes They are going on with the
rail road and will probably have it finished in time and property here will be
worth more. I would like to have your opinion on the subject. I suppose you
will have time to write me after receiving this before I shall have an oppor-
tunity of going I might set off on the overland rout if I had the menes the
first of next month but I think on the whole that would not be the best rout
unless you were along We have talked of the passage around the horn but
it is geting so late in the season I think we should be obliged to wait untill
fall to go that rout; the berths on both the steamer routs are engaged untill
the first of April. I have talked with J Hall about the best way of going he
thinks it would be best to wait till June or July and take the Nicaragua
rout; the great rush for California will probably be over some what by that
time, and the rainy season in Central America will be past too. Mr Hall says
perhaps by that time she^^ may have a summons from her husband to go also,
and I think that J H calculates to go about that time. I have written some of
my cogitations as you see and would like your advice Mr Cooley the old
gentleman called on Saturday to speak for this place they have sold their
place to a Mr Belden on the lake shore but do not give possession untill fall;
they heard that I talked of going to California and thought they would like
to speak in season for the place I think that you would rather rent to them
than any one else he did not make me any offer. I had thought if we sold
the out lot that one hundred dollars a year would be perhaps about right
I think we might afford to rent cheaper to them than to some others for
they would take such good care of the trees &C
3o8 Calif ornia Historical Society Quarterly
I think perhaps they will be willing to pay the rent before hand or when
I want it to go. The Trust company^'^ are about making another trial to sell
the farm brother Robbins says he thinks they intend to bid it in and if they
cannot make enough on it they will take the stock^^ and I had better dispose
of it as soon as possible I think they can not do any thing about [it] till
after the next term of court in May I think I had better try to dispose of all
I can without too much sacrofise to obtain menes to go to you and not wait
for you to send me the menes I do feel very very anxious to get settled
down with you some where I do not much care where. Brother James said
he thought he should write you soon Our folks are all in usual health. The
little girls Julia Martha and Clara wish me to say that they washed up the
dishes for me this morning that I might have time to write my letter Birney
talked of writing some but concluded to wait till next time
Your affectionate wife Clarissa
Dear Husband E'^"" April jth 1852
Yesterdays mail brought your letter of Feb 2 ist 24th O how
I wish I was in California; we have had an uncommonly hard winter here,
and a very cold backward spring it does seem as if warm weather never
would come; as near as I can remember we have had a snow storm every
week since you left yesterday morning the ground was covered with
snow; this morning April 7th is a fine pleasant one with a white frost; how
many more snow storms we shall have before this month is out I do not
know. I called on Mr Cooley®^ last week to make some arrangement about
renting this place I put the rent as low as I thought I could afford and he
made no objection; he would like to rent for three years and is willing to pay
the whole or part in advance deducting the interest. I put the rent at $100.
pe[r] year but it will be necessary to make some repairs to render the place
comfortable the cistern is broken and kneeds plastering the wood house
needs a new roof the kitchen wants plastering and indeed there is patching
up needed all over the house. Considering the repairs, taxes &C I feel in-
clined to follow your suggestion to sell the place; although it is not a very
good time to sell now for property is decreasing in value and there are more
places to be sold than there are purchasers I think I mentioned in my last
some of my cogitations about obtaining the menes for going to California,
since the receit of your letter I have changed my mind some what; I think
I will try to sell this place and reserve the out lot Robbins thinks as prop-
erty is selling now I had better sell this place for $2500.00 than to sell the
out lot for less than $50.00 per acre Should I have an offer of $50.00 for the
out lot I think perhaps I had better sell Our stock docs not look as well this
spring as I should think they might I am afraid I shall not be able to get any
more if I do as much as you gave for it I think perhaps by the next mail
I shall be able to tell you more definitely what what I can do; and when I
The Burr ell Letters 309
shall be ready to set my face towards California. I think from all that I can
learn the Vanderbilt^* rout will be the best for us I would like to know how
far Santa Clara is from San Francisco and what menes of conveyance I
should find to get there; or if it would be practicable for you to meet us at
that place. I am quite sorry that Mr Hall is up in mines for he has not re-
ceived any of his wife,s letters since she has expressed a willingness to go to
California I called on her last evening and I should judge from what she
said that she would prefer to go and it is my impression that her friend would
not make very strong objection, though there was nothing said about it.
I know that Mr Beebe is very much dissatisfy ed with the rail road tax; and
a good many of our property holders wear rather long faces®^ If Mrs Hall
should not receive an invitation from her husband to come before I get ready
I think I shall not wait. I suppose it not be possible for us to fail of having
company
Cousins Harris and Harmon Stephens and their wives are quite anxious to
go to California they have talked of going the over land rout but I believe
have given it up; if they can procure the necessary funds they may possibly
go when we do I shall let them know as soon as I can make any definite
arrangements about going
I have not heard from sister Lucy since I last wrote you Our friends in
this region so far as I know are in the enjoyment of usual health The little
girles are asleep or they would send much love and many kissess they
often talk about Pa and are anxious to go where he is. I am very glad you
and Philo have met at last, has he given you that kiss I sent by him you
may think it cold by this time but I do not believe it is. I hear that Mr
Wheeler says in one of his letters that he has seen or heard from Peter lately
if he is in the land of the living why dont you say some thing about it My
sheet is filled so I must stop short Do not forget to write to your
Wife Clarissa
Dear Husband ^lyria April 25th 1852
I had been looking all the week for a letter from you as the
mail from California has usualy arrived Saturday or sabbath but this mail did
not get here until Saturday of last week I think it was owing to some new
arrangement at the Isthmus the mail was not delivered to the first steamers
that left after it arrived. I have put off writing so long that that my letter
will not probably get into this mail which I think leaves New York to day
or tomorrow I shall put it into the can of onion seed should I succeed in
getting them, as your letter did not arrive till Saturday evening I am obliged
to put off getting the seeds untill tomorrow morning it shall then be at-
tended to with all possible dispatch. I have not made much progress towards
starting for California since I last wrote you I think I mentioned that I was
about making a bargin with Mr Cooley to rent the place for $ loo, per year;
3 1 o Calif OTfiia Historical Society Quarterly
but as you suggested seelling I thought I would try to do so; it is a very poor
time to sell property in Elyria now the taxes are so high: and the citizens are
doubtfull as to the benefit the rail road will be to the place Uncle Isaac
asked me what I thought the place worth I told [him] you had always
valued it at $2500, but I supposed I could not sell it for that now did not
think I could get more than $2200. he asked if I would sell it for $2000.
I told him I thought I would if he would buy it, he said he must build a
house for the girles and he did not know but he might as well buy one al-
ready built I have talked with him since about it he said he did not know
as he could pay for it I told him if he would pay 1 1000, some time in June
or July he might take his own time for paying the rest; he did not talk very
encouraging^^ so I thought I would follow your suggestion, and sent an ad-
vertisement to the office which will appear in our next paper Uncle Isaac
may buy the place after all, for he did not say that he would not. My present
calculations are so soon as I can sell the place to dispose of the furniture so
much of it as I can and leave the rest with brother James to dispose of as he
can, then spend a few weeks visiting our friends after which we will set our
faces towards California. I think the Nicaragua rout from all I can learn will
be the best for us. When all these things will come to pass I can not say for
it depends entirely upon the sale of the place. I think with $1000 besides
what we may get for stock, furniture, candle moulds &C, we can go quite
comfortably. If t can sell for $2000, we shall then have fiooo. and the out
lot left to pay brother and sister Lewis.®^ I do not expect to sell my self rich
for I am not much of a hand at making good bargins, and I do not expect
to have many coppers left by the time we get to Cahf ornia. If we all get there
alive and well I think we can make ourselves comfortable. Brother Robbins
and family moved to their farm last week so we are quite alone now we
felt rather lonely the first night but since we have been so busy cleaning the
house and front yard that we have not found time for being lonesome. Rob-
bins wife was much more cheerfull about moving than I expected she would
be. James has an addition of another son^® to his family making now five in
all four sons and a daughter they [are] getting along quite comfortably.
The union schools are in a flourishing condition at present but I have thought
best not send this quarter [last two words crossed out] for I am in hopes to
leave here in the course of a month or two. We have had a very cold wet
spring so far; but one or two days that have been at all comfortable to work
out of doors I have not done any thing in the kitchen garden yet and hardly
think I shall for should we go soon I shall not have time to spare, and should
we be obliged to stay till fall we should want the vegitables so I am at a
loss what to do The prospect for fruit is not very promising yet I think
we shall have some cheries Eliza has been at home since Mr Mills and fam-
ily left she takes hold of work very handily I think she has improved by
The Burr ell Letters 3 1 1
living with iMr Mills she seems to be desirous of going with us, and as
female help is in such good demand I think I shall take her
Your Wife
Elyria June 23d 1852
Dear Husband
I was absent on a visit to Tallmadge when yours of April 25th
arrived and did not return in season to answer it by the first mail I am very
thankful that you are so punctual to write; the last mail is the first one that
has left without a letter from me since I heard of your location at Santa
Clara. I hardly know what to say with regard to my future movements I
am very much between hawk and buzzard as the old saying is I had hoped
to be able to say to you by this mail that we would leave New Y — k the 1 1"
of July and you might look for us some time in August and the only reason
why I can not say so is I have not funds enough yet. I have sold the out lot
for I420, Brother Robbins has taken the heifers and colts down to his farm
and will sell them for me as soon as he can the two cows he has sold I do
not remember how much he got for them I have two yet to sell; the candle
moulds and a great many other things which if I could sell I think would
make enough to take us to California but nobody seems to want to buy what
I have to sell; and I had also expected to rent this place to Mr Cooley if I did
not sell it and receive a part or the whole of the rent in advance if I needed
it: but while I was at Tallmadge Mr Cooley bought Mr Murrey ,s place and
in company with Mr Pond Mr Olcott and Mrs E Mc Caukins started for
California they left the morning before I came home. I think there is not
much probability that I can sell this place if I should wait a year so I have
about concluded if possible to borrow what I may need after selling every
thing I can and set sail. I think Eliza and the children and I can get along very
well without any other company than what we shall find on the boat. Mrs
Hall has not received an invitation from her husband to come, and some how
I begin to feel quite in a hurry to go and live with you since [you] have no
idea of coming to live with me. There has not been much done in the fac-
tory^^ brother has kept the home market supplied with soap I believe
that is all, nothing is doing in it now Dr Dolly and family have returned
from Rochester where they spent the winter his health is quite poor, lung
difficulties,^*' he would like to go to California and I think would go when
I do if he could leave his family just now. A letter from sister Lucy says thev
are still at Bell Prairie and perhaps may remain there. Mr Lewis, health is not
very good he is troubled with a disease of the kidneys which has made its
appearance in the latter part of several winters more severely last winter
and he thinks it is consequent on the long continued cold of their winters,
all that the books recommend, is to remove to a warm climate I have just
recommended them to go to California. Our friends in Tallmadge were well
as usual sister Sally^^ went with me to Windham found our friends well
3 1 2 California Historical Society Quarterly
Joseph had left for New York about fifteen minutes before we arrived so
I missed of seeing him. Sister Amelia went with me to Solon; so you see I
have made a general visitation. The children and I went by rail road it is
finished to Coyhoga [Cuyahoga] falls I saw Mother Burrell and Henry
Wettmore Mother is better than when we were there, they wished to be
remembered to you. A letter from brother Elizur^^ last week said they were
all well; he has by some unfair menes been cheated out of his interest in the
paper, and he was in trouble about meeting a payment due on his house and
there was some danger that he might lose the $ 1 500. he had paid on it and
I see by the papers that his trial in the Shadrac^^ case was attended to last
week it wass dismissed as the jury could not agree. The whigs here had
a great canonading night before last because Gen Scott was nominated for
president. Since I have been writing Wm Wright of Oberlin has called and
says Philo arrived in Tallmadge the 1 6th two days after we left. I think we
shall see him here soon his Mother said she would let him come out here
soon if he arrived before I left that he might give us all the information he
could respecting our journey. Sister Sarah^* was here yesterday friends in
Sheffield well. I suppose there are a great many more things I might say but
will leave them till I see you. If you do not get any letter the next mail after
this you may expect we shall be on hand in the course of two or three weeks
We have a pretty fair crop of cherries which are now ripe we intend to
dry as many as we can to take with us Eliza puts into it with all her might
she has been a very good girl since she came home last spring and I think
will be quite a help to me on the way and a comfort to us when we get
there I think when you get all my letters you will have a pretty good idea
of what we are are all doing here The strawberries you set out last fall are
bearing some we have had two or three messes from the old vines. Eliza
Martha and Clara send much love
,, ^ , _, „ Your affectionate Wife Clarissa
Mr Lyman J Burrell
Santa Clara Santa Clara Co. California
Dear Husband "^'^"^ July 9th ,852
I think I said in my last if you did not receive a letter from me
the next mail you might expect I would be on hand soon; well I do not seem
to be quite ready to set sail yet; it is rather of an up hill business for a woman
to sell, or rent a house and lot, and turn all the loose property of such an
establishment as this into cash. Some times I get quite discouraged and think
I never shall get money enough together to take us to California. If it were
not for my large organ of hopefuUness I should give up the matter entirely;
but still hope every day some body will come along to buy the house or I can
find some one who is willing to loan me a few hundred. You may be sure
I shall be on the way so soon as I can scrape together enough of the needful!
The Burr ell Letters 3 1 3
for I am quite tired of living between hawk and buzzard I had written to
cousin Harry Burrell (before the receipt of yours of May 22nd) enquiring
what would be the fare and where we should go to procure tickets, he sent
me a card of the agent of the Vanderbillt line, the, fare is the same as when
you went I have since written to him inquiring about the clipper ships If
I should find the expenees considerable less, and can get a good ship I think
I will take that rout, if not I should prefer the steamers I think the children
would suffer from so long a confinement and I have a great dread of getting
becalmed on the Pacific and starving to death though I have never heard that
the clipper,s meet with such disasters You mentioned writing to me at San
Francisco that will be a very good arrangement as you seem likely to have
two homes or places of residence, and I might not know at which I should
find you. You seem to be enlarging your business somewhat I hope you
will not get so many irons in the fire that [you] can not strike any of them
till they are cold Mary Burrell says you will work yourself to death and
wont be able to carry a peck of bran by the time we get there. Our neighbors
are most of them having the fever and ague, as many as one or two in every
house and some whole families Charlotte and Mary Ann have had it
Lewis and Julia have had it since they moved to Sheffield Our family have
escaped thus far and I feel quite in hopes we shall not be troubled with it.
The whigs are making great rejoicings over the nomination of General
Scott for the next president. The fourth or rather fifth was not celebrated
in town except by the firing of canon and crackers and fire balls and a bon-
fire in the evening. I did not have time to look over Birneys letter before it
was sent I think the sum was not done right he should have divided by
8 1 the square of 9 instead of 9 if I had thought of it in season I would have
had him try the sums again and written a letter [to] send with this."^^ I would
like to ask you what things you would like to have me bring (should we take
a ship) besides the kettle and stove; but it takes so long for a letter to go and
an answer to come back that we might be well on our way before the answer
would get here. I am geting very sleepy so I will bid you good night per-
haps I may add a word or two in the morning
Saturday Morn The children send much love I shall write every mail
till we start and if we go by clipper will write you when we leave New York
Your affectionate Wife Clarissa
Dear Husband ^'^"^ Aug 1 8th 1852
I am determined to keep writing to you till I get ready to start
I know you think I am on the way and perhaps are looking for me now:
well the only reason why I have not been on the way long ago is the want
of cash to pay the fare I believe the Men here think it is beneath their dig-
nity to trade with a woman; or if they do condescend to do so they are in
duty bound to cheat all they can. I am realy quite out of heart trying to sell
314 California Historical Society Quarterly
any thing or earn any thing here I have had the place advertised in the
Lorain Argus and in the Cleveland Herald but have had no offer only from
Uncle Isaac of $ 1 500, and I have about concluded to take up with his offer
for I think I might stay here two or three years and be no nearer selling than
I am now and for my part I am quite tired of staying in this way. If Uncle
Isaac pays me Rve hundred, now that with what I get from the out lot and
else where will take us to California and leave one thousand for Lucy I
think perhaps Eliza and [I] can get some employment that we can earn the
other five hundred dollars in the course of a year or two.'^^ I think if we can
get to California we shall both of us be willing to do any thing by which we
can make money We have made all necessary preparations for our journey
and have disposed of or bestowed most of our house hold furniture and
think we shall spend the next week in Sheffield and the week after set out
for California. Now all it all depends upon whether Uncle Isaac will take
the place and pay the five hundred. I tryed to borrow some money of Uncle
James Burrell he had it to let but was afraid I could not give good security;
as my husband was absent he thought a motgage on the place would not
hold. So you see those of our friends who have money to let are afraid to do
so, and those who have not any of course can not help me" Some times I
feel almost sorry I ever tryed to sell out and go; not because I am less anxious
to live with you but because I have to sell every thing at such a sacrafise,
well I think if I ever get to California with all my children alive and well
and find you so I shall be more thankfull than I ever was before. I would not
have written such a gloomy fretful letter only I happened to feel just so; but
they say the darkest time comes just before day, so I have some hope, for I
am sure things look dark enough to me now If I do not make out to get
off next month I shall write so you can hear from us if you do not see us
we are enjoying usual health The children join in love
Your affectionate wife Clarissa Burrell
T^ TT 1 J Boston^^ Sept 19" i8c2
Dear Husband r ^ j
We have at last set out on our long journey and got so far.
We concluded after all to accept of your advice, and take the long voyage
around the cape, brother Elizur also gave the same advice and invited us
to come here to embark as the best clippers sail from here, we have engaged
our passage on a new ship just finishing; it is one of the largest built here, it
is built by the same man who built the Flying Cloud^® and several others of
the swiftest sailing vessels on the ocean; it is called Westward Ho:^° the day
for sailing is not set, but will probably be the first of October^^
I will write you the day we sail that you may know when to look for us
I am very sorry we cannot reach you before you leave Santa Clara.^^ If you
cannot meet us at San Francisco I hope you will leave word with Mr
Peebles^^ where we shall find you, and how we can get there I think if we
The Burrell Letters 3 1 5
meet with no disaster we shall be in San Francisco the last of December
The riger of the vessel says he thinks this vessel will make the quickest trip
that has ever been made to California You must keep up good courage Pa
I hope you will see us some time or other and then I will tell you all the
hindrances I have met with The children are in usual health and send much
love to their dear pa pa
Your affectionate Wife Clarissa Burrell
[Mr. Elizur Wright to Mrs. Clarissa Wright Burrell]
Boston Oct 16—1852®*
To my dear sister
Clarissa Burrell, whose heart is too large to be separated from a brother
either by distance or bigotry, I present these fine old heart pictures.
Had Shakspeare known you, Clarissa he would even have added to the
beauties of his women, from a quarter where beauty is too seldom sought
and less often found. May these pictures awaken many of the pleasant mem-
ories that bind us together till the space which will soon be between us is
but a memory. _
•^ Elizur®^
Copy
Written by Uncle Elizur Wright in the first volume of the set Shakspeare
that he gave to mother just before we started for California
[Martha Burrell]
^ T^ t „ o- Santa Clara Feb 12 1853
Dear Brother & Sisters
You are doubtless looking with some anxiety for a
letter giving an account of our arrival in this land of gold. I suppose brother
Elizur sent you a paper giving an account of the departure of the ship West-
ward Ho. The ship being new and every thing clean we were not subject
to all the annoyances that are consequent on long voyages; indeed we had
on the whole a very pleasant time, though there were some things we could
have wished different; for instance we had a drunken captain,®^ which was
not very pleasant, he was continualy scolding because the women and chil-
dren made so much noise, and threatened to send the children to bed at six,
and the women at eight,®^ we did not however feel ourselves under obliga-
tion to mind all his whims; and we did not apprehend any danger from the
mismanagement of the ship, for we had a fine man for first mate,®® who took
charge of the ship and promised he would not obey the captains orders if
they were likely to lead us into danger; but so long as the ship was safe he
must do as the captain bid; though we were hindered some two or three
weeks by it, for he kept us going backwards and forwards in nearly the
latitude of cape Horn for almost two weeks and then would not make sail
when the wind was fair and we could make ten or twelve nots an hour. Not-
withstanding our hindrances we made the voyage in 103 days. The two first
3 1 6 California Historical Society Quarterly
weeks out from Boston were rather stormy. I think quite as severe gales as
any we had, it was very pleasant sailing through the tropical regions ;^^ we
did not suffer so much with heat as I expected, especially on the Pacific, we
could almost always find a cool breeze on deck. The weather was very cold
at the cape, and as we had no fire we felt it considerably. We had several
snow storms; one morning the decks were covered two inches deep with
snow. I think it must be a very dreary region in winter when their nights
are 1 8 or 20 hours long; I think we could see to read without a candle till
after 9 oclock; and it was broad day light by three in the morning. We went
south nearly to the sixtieth degree The albatross and cape pigeons were
quite plentiful in the region of the cape We saw several whales spouting
at a distance, but did not come near enough to have a view of them. We
passed several schools of flying fish, some were tolerable size, one was washed
on deck by a wave and caught, when cooked it tasted much like our small
river fish I should have kept a journal of the remarkable occurances on
our voyage if I had not been sea-sick; the first week I was not able to leave
my state room but once or twice and for several weeks I was but just able
to get out to my meals and crawl up on deck into the fresh air to keep from
loosing them, which expedient did not always succeed; it was with difficulty
I could muster courage enough to knit, I did not get to feel quite comfort-
able till we came into the trade winds on the Pacific; the children suffered
but little with sea sickness especially Eliza and Birney. They seemed to enjoy
themselves very well there were two little girles about the ages of Martha
and Clara and two boys about the age of Birney and three young ladies were
company for Eliza, and three married ladies going to meet their husbands
were company for me, so we were all provided with companions, and quite
pleasant company they were too.®*^ One lady a Mrs Hamlin,®^ from Peoria
Illanois, found when she arrived at San Francisco that her husband had been
dead three months; she was considerably overcome at the sad news, indeed,
it seemed to us all very much as if there had been a funeral on board. We
anchored in the harbor on Monday morning but did not get up to wharf till
Wednesday morning our vessel was so large and the tide run so fast we
were obliged wait till we could be towed in by a steamer The gentlemen
went on shore in the boats and brought us all the important news such as
who is president the death of Daniel Webster^^ &C
As there was no letter to be found for me in the post-office at San Fran-
cisco, Mr Johnson the (first mate) offered to find Mr Peebles for me as Mr
Burrell had directed me to call on him in case I did not find a letter; he found
him quite readily, and he had the week before received a line from Mr Bur-
rell saying that he was expecting his family on the ship Westward Ho, and
would be glad to have him find a conveyance for them to Alviso as he was
then working on a Mr Clarks farm about two miles and a half from that
place. The steamer for Alviso did not go out until thursday so we stayed on
f
The Burr ell Letters 3 1 7
board the vessel till we were ready to go Mr Peebles sent a dray for our
luggage and came himself to wait upon us to the steamer Mr Johnson also
went with us and saw us safely on board Mr P introduced us to an ac-
quaintance of his Esq Ryland^^ of San Jose he appeared to be a very fine
man, and as the steamer was not likely to get up to the landing untill after
dark (on account of the tide) he spoke to the captain to let us remain on
board all night; their accommodations were quite comfortable and they
mad no extra charge. We rose before the sun on friday morning Birney
started off first thinking he should find Pa and come back with a team to
help us along, after seeing our baggage safely stored in a ware house, we set
off in company with an old gentleman who was going in
Pa and the children join in sending love to uncles aunts and cousins
Martha says she will write to Julia^* next time ^ ^
Our post office is Santa Clara Santa Clara County California
(To be concluded)
NOTES
1. "Wright Genealogical Chart." (Henry H. Norton Collection, Grants Pass, Ore-
gon; see notes 50 and 51 below.)
2. P. G. and E. Q. Wright, Elizur Wright, The Father of Life Insurance (Chicago,
1937), p. I.
3. Ibid., p. 2.
4. H. S. Foote, ed., Pen Pictures from the Garden of the World; or, Santa Clara
County, California (Chicago, 1888), p. 263.
5. Letter of Clarissa Wright to her parents, Apr. 10, 1824, from Wooster, Ohio, where
she was teaching; and another to her sister, Mrs. Amelia Hanford, May 16, 1834, from
Edgeworth Seminary, Wilkens, Pa., where she was attending school. (Norton Collec-
tion.) However, "A careful search through the college records fails to reveal the name
of Clarissa Wright." Letter from Donald M. Love, secretary, Oberlin College, to present
writer, Jan. 14, 1949.
6. "Wright Genealogical Chart," as above; and data given in this series of letters.
7. Foote, op. cit., p. 302.
8. P. G. and E. Q. Wright, op. cit., pp. 21-239.
9. Letter of Mrs. Clarissa Wright to her daughter, Martha, Dec. 21, 1828, from Tall-
madge, Ohio. Speaking of Western Reserve College, she says, ". . . they are yet without
a President for Mr Emerson would not be prevailed on to accept the appointment."
(Norton Collection.)
10. Letter of Mrs. Clarissa Wright Burrell to her mother, Mrs. Clarissa Wright, May
II, 1840, from Elyria, Ohio, gives detailed information concerning anti-slavery activities
in Ohio, the collection of funds for freedmen's benefits, etc. (Norton Collection.)
11. Foote, op. cit., p. 263.
12. "Recollections of an Octogenarian," Mountain Echoes, I, No. i (Dec. 31, 1881).
This was a handwritten serial publication of ten issues, 1881-82, now in the collection of
Erie T. Smith, who resides near the old town of Burrell, Santa Clara County.
13. Idem. 14. Foote, op. cit., p. 263.
3 1 8 California Historical Society Quarterly
15. Ibid., pp. 264, 266. Clara Burrell was born June 30, 1845. J. M. McGuinn, History
and Biographical Records of Coast Counties, California (Chicago, 1904), p. 1287.
16. "Recollections . . .," as above.
17. For detailed description of this route, see Ruby Johnson Swartzlow, "Peter Lassen,
Northern California Trail-Blazer," Calif. Hist. Soc, 1940.
18. "Recollections . . .," as above.
19. Foote, op. cit., p. 263.
20. Idem.
21. C. F. McGlashan, History of the Donner Tarty (Stanford Univ. Press, 1940) , p. 239.
22. "Recollections . . .," as above.
23. Mrs. Clara B. Hirsch writes from North Bergen, N. J. (postmarked Jan. 4, 1949) :
"Grandmother was buried in the Mountains on their property— later becoming the prop-
erty of Miss Martha Burrell."
24. Spelling, capitalization, and punctuation are transcribed without change.
25. Mrs. Amelia Wright Hanford, wife of Rev. William Hanford, was an elder half-
sister of Clarissa (Wright Genealogical Chart).
26. Rev. James Richards Wright, Clarissa's youngest brother, was born in Tallmadge,
Ohio, April 14, 18 14, and died in Santa Clara County, California, in 1898. He was a grad-
uate of Oberlin College and a Congregational minister. He migrated to California in
1869. Wright's Station on the old South Pacific line from Los Gatos to Santa Cruz was
named for him. In 1844, he was married to Sarah Holmes Vincent. Ten children were
born to this union: Charles R., Elizur, Lucy, William H., James F., Albert T., Henry W.,
Sumner B., Frank V., and Clara A. He was a farmer and Presbyterian minister in Cali-
fornia. His home, "Arbor Villa," was located on the ridge a thousand feet above Wright's
Station. Guinn, op. cit., pp. 1070-3.
27. This was Edwin Hall who had been an Ohio neighbor.
28. The route as described by Clarissa is shown in detail in the "Map to Illustrate
[Hosea B.] Horn's Overland Guide to California and Oregon," published by J. H. Col-
ton, New York, 1853: from Salt Lake City north 100 miles to the Bear River, then west-
erly over Brophy's Cut Off to the Humboldt River; down this river to a short distance
above Humboldt Lake (or Sink), thence northwesterly along Lawson's (Lassen's) Cut
Off to a point east of Grave (Goose) Lake near the Oregon boundary, thence southerly
to enter the Sacramento Valley along Antelope Creek. See Swartzlow, op. cit., pp. 10-12,
for additional information about the "Lawson Cut Off." Also see Asa Merrill Fairfield's
History of Lassen County (San Francisco, C1916), pp. 3-10 and map. For a day by day
record of a trip over this trail in 1849, see Israel F. Hale, "Diary of a Trip to Califor-
nia . . .," Quarterly, Soc. Calif. Pioneers, II (1925), 114-30.
29. Sinking Marys River was an early name for the Humboldt.
30. The gold region was not so accurately defined in 1849 as it is at present. It was at
about this time that gold was discovered in the vicinity of old Shasta, six miles west of
Redding.
31. The water treatment, hydropathy, though of ancient origin, was popularized and
extended by a Silesian farmer named Priessnitz during the years from 1820 to 1841. In
this country it found many advocates during the gold rush.
32. A small community in Lorain County, Ohio, where her brother James was a min-
ister. Guinn, op. cit., p. 1073.
33. Eliza was the daughter of Mr. Burrell's first wife.
34. Joseph W. Briggs, born in New York in 1832, moved to Medina County, Ohio,
when young, and came to California during the gold rush. With his brother he became
one of the first extensive fruit growers near Marysville. Later, he located on the Trimble
Road in Santa Clara County. He died Apr. 19, 1887. Foote, op. cit., p. 572.
The Burrell Letters 319
35. The San Francisco mint was established in 1854.
36. This was Mrs. Edwin Hall.
37. Clarissa's elder half-brother, Philo Wright ("Wright Genealogical Chart").
38. Ann Robbins, the daughter of the Burrells' tenant.
39. Birney, age 10; Martha, 7; Clara, 5.
40. The tenant, Samuel (?) Robbins.
41. The heart, liver, and lungs of an animal.
42. The Burrells owned and operated a candle factory in Elyria.
43. Fretter was the tenant on the Burrell farm in Lorain County.
44. James Birney Burrell, probably named for the great abolitionist, James G. Birney,
was bom Aug. 4, 1840, in Elyria, Ohio. His diary of the trip around the Horn and of the
early days in California is a most creditable document for a young boy. According to his
records, his life on the Burrell ranch was a strenuous one. It is quite evident his father
placed many responsibilities on his shoulders. On June 18, 187 1, he was married to Miss
Mary L. Campbell, a native Cahfomian. To this union were born three children: Frank
L., now living in San Jose; William (deceased), and Clara, now Mrs. Rudolph Hirsch
of New Jersey. Birney spent considerable time in Mexico, where he had at one time
large real estate holdings. His later days were spent on his portion of the Burrell ranch.
He was frugal, modest, and very industrious, and had considerable inventive talent.
Foote, op. cit., p. 266; and Birney Burrell's diary.
45. The letter was written Christmas 1851. Apparently this family gave slight emphasis
to many of the holidays.
46. Clarissa's younger sister, Mrs. Lucy Wright Lewis ("Wright Genealogical Chart") .
47. Belle Prairie was located about eight miles north of Little Falls, Morrison County,
Minn. (Johnson's New Illustrated Family Atlas of the World (New York, 1867).
48. Clarissa consistently used the comma for the apostrophe.
49. Probably anti-slavery meetings. Her brother, Elizur, who was then the editor of
the Co?n?nonivealth, was under indictment for assisting Shadrack, a fugitive slave, to
escape from the custody of a U. S. marshal.
50. Martha Burrell was bom about 1843. Early photographs show her as a rather small,
straight, clear-eyed, unsmiling girl in her teens. She never married, but made her home
on the portion of the Burrell ranch which she owned. It was she who collected the let-
ters and other material of her family and gave them to Judge Harry Norton.
51. Clara Burrell was born June 30, 1845, at Elyria, Ohio. On Nov. 15, 1864, she mar-
ried Hiram C. Morrell, a native of Maine, who had come to California in 1854. tie was
engaged in lumbering, first in Placer County, then for a year around Humboldt Bay,
and from 1859 to 1900 in the Santa Cruz Mountains. The Morrells built their home in
1867, a short distance northwest of "Mountain Home." They had five children: Lizzie
M., who married Judge Harry Norton; H. Clifford, Jr.; Jesse B.; Minnie C, who married
Thompson; and Albert E. (Guinn, op. cit., pp. 1286-7).
52. The Chippewa Indian Reservation was located about 15 miles north of Belle
Prairie. J. H. Colton, General Atlas (New York, 1859.)
53. In May 1852, Wright and List quarreled over editorial policies, and the latter,
having more influence with the directors, had Wright dropped as editor. P. G. and E. Q.
Wright, op. cit., p. 202.
54. Wright's outspoken championship of Louis Kossuth was one of the factors that
caused the dismissal of the former. Ibid., p. 202.
SS' Burrell was renting a farm near Santa Clara from Cary Peebels.
$6. At different times Clarissa considers the relative advantages of the four principal
routes to California: the overland; via the isthmus of Panama; via Nicaragua; and
around the Horn.
320 Calif ornia Historical Society Quarterly
57. For a cattle drive to California in 1853, see "Diary of Dr. Thomas Flint," reprinted
from An. Pubs., Hist. Soc. Southern Calif., Los Angeles, 1923, pp. 12-72.
58. Clarissa's brother, James R. Wright, was the minister at Sheffield.
59. Oberlin College. Founded in 1833, it was coeducational and one of the first institu-
tions of learning to admit colored students. It was one of the strongholds of anti-slavery
sentiment.
60. His sister-in-law, A'Irs. Edwin Hall.
61. It would appear that the Trust Company held a mortgage against the farm.
62. In a deficiency judgment, this might happen.
63. See note 66 below.
64. The Vanderbilt Independent Line. For details of the wreck of its steamship Inde-
pendence off coast of Lower California on Feb. 16, 1853, see E. A. Wiltsee, Gold Rush
Steamers (San Francisco, 1938), pp. 97-103.
61^. Special community taxes, voted for the purpose of securing local improvements,
still prove to become unpredictable burdens.
66. Elyria must have been full of this type of bargain-hunter: (i) get the very lowest
offer on the basis of being a close friend or relative; (2) ask if a price a few hundred less
would be accepted; (3) don't accept this new offer, but act as if you might at some
future time— this will disarm the seller; (4) at a later date talk in a very pessimistic man-
ner; (5) wait until the last moment, then buy the property at your own price and terms.
67. It appears that the Burrells owed her sister and husband an undisclosed amount,
probably $1500.
68. James F. Wright.
69. The Burrells had a small soap factory in connection with the candle works.
70. Innumerable cases of pulmonary sickness are mentioned in the papers of the
pioneers.
71. Probably Sally (Owen) Wright, the wife of her half-brother, Philo Wright.
72. Elizur Wright, Clarissa's brother who lived in Boston. The paper was the Com-
monivealth, an anti-slavery journal.
73. See note 49 above. Wright was tried before the U. S. Circuit Court on June 4,
1852. The jury stood 10 or 11 for conviction. In his second trial, which began October
23, 1852, he was acquitted. P. G. and E. Q. Wright, op. cit., pp. 205-7.
74. Clarissa's sister-in-law, Mrs. James R. Wright.
75. Indicative of the family's love of mathematics are the problems which accompany
many of their letters.
76. See note 67 above.
77. Re-statement of fallacy that if once given more ample means, the heretofore less
amply supplied would, immediately thereupon, become benefactors and act differently
from those they had made a practice of criticizing.
78. Clarissa and her family were at her brother's (Elizur Wright's) home in Boston.
79. See note 95 below.
80. "... a fine clipper vessel of 1650 tons, very sharp and supposed to be the fastest
ship afloat." Amy Requa Russell, "Early Years of WiUiam F. Herrick," this Quarterly,
XXVI (Sept. 1947), 227.
81. It sailed Oct. 16, 1852.
82. It is probable Burrell made his first trip into the Santa Cruz Mountains at this time.
83. Cary Peebels was bom in Lexington, Kentucky, April 12, 1808. He lived in Mis-
souri for many years; married Miss Teresa Cavanaugh in 1843, who died three years later.
He started for California in 1849 with 43 wagons and 3 carriages loaded with merchan-
dise for the mines. On reaching Salt Lake City he disposed of his interest in the train and
started on horse-back, accompanied by a man and boy, for San Francisco. He carried
The Burr ell Letters 3 2 1
with him $4000 in gold coin from Brigham Young's mint. In San Francisco he found the
other merchandise he had shipped around the Horn and which he took to Sacramento.
The floods of that year destroyed his goods at a loss of $4000. Later, he mined in Grass
Valley and then came to Santa Clara County where he purchased 126 acres between
Santa Clara and Alviso at $7 per acre. In the spring of 1852, he engaged in the produce
business in San Francisco, but sold out in 1855 and moved to his farm, which he had in-
creased to 400 acres. He was one of the most energetic and progressive farmers of Santa
Clara County in the 1850's and i86o's. J. P. Munro-Fraser, History of Santa Clara Co.
(San Francisco, 1881), p. 671. The original Peebels' ranch was located in Sec. 27, T6S,
RiW, M.D.M. Thompson and West, New Historical Atlas of Santa Clara Co. (San
Francisco, 1876).
84. This was the day of departure, and Birney Burrell begins his diary. He writes:
"Saturday October i6th 1852 This morning was a scene of bustle and confusion.
About 8 o clock my uncle took me out to a clothing Store and bought for me an over-
coat which cost 4 dollars he also bought 3 cakes of shaving soap which was to shave pa
when we got to California. We then went down to the wharf where we got on board
a steamer which was to pilot us out of the harbor. In a short time my mother Sisters my
aunt cousins and a few friends arrived in a coach my uncle and cousins tiny and Mary
accompanied us to the ship The steamer piloted out of the harbor where we took leave
of our friends We had a very good sail the remainder of the day the wind blew a
nice breeze It was very cold on deck so I staid in the cabin most of the time. I was not
seasick."
85. Indicative both of a brother's love and the articles which were thought to be
appropriate gifts at that time.
86. Capt. William B. Graves was in command of the Westward Ho. See Russell, op.
cit.y note 80, for estimate of Graves.
87. Birney Burrell in his diary goes into details: "Fri [Dec] 3 [1852] Lat 45. Lon 57.23.
Our direction is N.N.W. the captain has turned the ship around this morning he has
drank a good deal of wine lately he called the steward into his room and after giveing
him a good scolding about talking with the passengers he told him to clear out. he
then came out into the ladies cabin and spoke as follows ladies as you call yourselves
I wish you would let alone talking with that rascaly steward if you can't get any one
but a nigger to talk with I wish you to come to me and I will try to furnish you with
Some one he went on to say that it was against all the rules of the ship &c. &c. In a
little while although us children were unusualy still he came out and made us a speech
as follows, aint there any body to take care of these brats I can't have this noise nor
I wont have it if any of you children aint got any mother come to me and I'll be a
father to you All. for breakfast he ordered 5 or 6 plates full one after another sending
them all back in their order except one At dinner he ordered 5 plates sent them all
back and went without Once when he heard the Steward talking to Jonny he came to
the cabin door and roared out "Steward look here less noise there I dont want to hear
so much of your tongue going do you hear. I have got an Epipath which aplys to him
which goes as follows
There was a man who died of late
For whom angles did impatient wait
On wings of love
To waft him to the realms above
But while disputing for their prize
Still hovering around there lower skies
In sliped the Devil with other knaves
And down to Hell he kicked old graves."
32 2 California Historical Society Quarterly
88. First Mate, G. W. Johnson; Spear, second mate; McKennon, third mate;
Annis, fourth mate or boatswain; G. A. Lans, steward. Russell, op. cit., p. 227.
89. Birney Burrell's diary reads as follows: "J^^i i [1853] ... this morning the air was
filled with tropic birds most of them marhn spikes We are in a dead calm about noon
5 of the gentlemen passengers viz the 2 Mr Herrics Mr Lucus Mr Smith and Mr
Fensinton got into the star-board boat lowered it and took a sail around the vessel it is
needless to say that I wished to go Mr Herric who has been a sailor took the oar to
steer with and Mr Lucus Smith and Fensinton pulled at the oars."
90. Birney lists the passengers in the after cabin thus: ". . . there are 4 families includ-
ing ourselves, next door neighbor to us lives Mrs Turner her sister and her children
Fredy and Charley. Next comes Mrs HamUn and her children Amelia and Ralph,
then comes Mrs Staples with her children Fanny Frank Ellen Susan and Alpheus. There
are 10 gentleman passengers the names of those whom I know I will repeat viz Mr
Hilland Mr Dane who reside in the after cabin. Mr Atkinson Mr Smith the two Mr
Hirrics (brothers [see note 80 above]) Mr Lucus Mr Luce Mr Whiteman, and Mr
Fensinton."
91. Birney Burrell's diary for Jan. 31, 1853.
92. Daniel Webster died on Oct. 24, 1852.
93. This was Caius Tacitus Ryland, son-in-law of the first American governor, Peter
H. Burnett. A Missourian, he was bom June 30, 1826, the son of Judge John F. Ryland
of that state. At different times he served as clerk of the Court of First Instance in San
Francisco; private secretary of Governor Burnett; speaker of the state assembly; com-
missioner to locate the state university; and trustee of the San Jose State Normal School.
In private life he was an attorney and banker. He left a large family, members of which
are prominent citizens of present-day Santa Clara County. W. F. Swasey, Early Days
and Men of California (Oakland, 1891), p. 282 and Dedication.
94. Probably Julia Upson Loomis, Clarissa's niece, born July 3, 18 18.
Major James D. Savage and the Tularenos
By Annie R. Mitchell
HIS enemies said he was an uncouth liar who exploited the Indians.
His friends said he was a shrewd, intelligent man who gave his life
in an effort to keep the Indians from being exterminated. He said,
. . . while you study books, I study men. I am not much deceived, and I perfectly
understand the present situation, but let those laugh who win. If I can make good my
losses by the Indians out of the Indians, I am going to do it. I was once the best friend
the Indians had, and they would have destroyed me. Now that they once more call me
chief they shall build me up. I will be just to them as I have been merciful, for after all,
they are but poor ignorant beings, but my losses must be made good.^
This is the picture of James D. Savage, who came obscurely into CaHf ornia
as an immigrant in 1 846 but who was destined to become virtual ruler over
hundreds of Tulareiios Indians and to be intimately concerned with the
federal government's Indian policy in California. He was a typical moun-
tain man, courageous, fearless and secretive; he was also sharp, intuitive and
grasping.^ The little that he has told about himself indicates that his Hfe did
not differ much from that of any other boy who grew up on the shifting
fringe of the American frontier.^ His maternal grandfather saw service in
the Revolutionary War, as did his grandfather, James Savage. After the war,
the family moved from Massachusetts to Locke, Cayuga County, N. Y. In
1822 or '23 James Savage's sons, Peter and John, migrated to Illinois and
were among the first settlers in Jacksonville. Peter Savage married Doritha
Shaunce and to them in 1823 was bom James D., the subject of this paper.
Blond and blue-eyed, he grew into a good-natured lad, with little formal
education; but his native shrewdness and wit and his ability to get along with
people took the place of books. Just when he became a mountain man-
lived with Indians and roamed the then-West as a trapper and trader— is un-
certain. However, it was during this period that he developed an admiration
for the Indians' way of living. Early in the 1 840's, he returned to Cayuga
County and married, and for a while he and his wife Eliza (surname not
traceable) lived in Peru, Illinois, but Savage chafed at the tameness of village
life. Luckily for him, economic pressures within the eastern states were set-
ting in motion overland migrations toward the west which have been almost
obscured by the later, more out-and-out rush for gold. A family or a small
group of families would load their possessions and start toward Independ-
ence, Missouri, where they would congregate into larger trains and begin
the westward march. In April 1 846, James, Eliza, and James' brother Morgan
Savage started for Independence. When they arrived, some two thousand
persons were waiting for the grass on the western plains to be sufficiently
high to feed their stock. It is difficult to follow the fortunes of wagon trains:
323
324 Calif ornia Historical Society Quarterly
they split, merged, separated, and argued over the best and worst routes.
Nevertheless, we do know that the group at Independence started out on the
first of May without any particular organization.* In a few days they formed
loosely organized groups, led by such men as J. Quinn Thornton who was
going to Oregon; William Russell, headed for California; Edward Bryant
who was also going to California, as was the main group under Ex-Governor
Lilburn Boggs of Missouri. James Savage cast his lot with the Boggs party.
On May 19, this group was joined by the Reed and Donner party. Except for
the members of the Donner party, no exact list of names of the cavalcade has
been kept. The route was the usual one: up the north fork of the Platte, up
the Sweet\vater to South Pass, down the Big Sandy to Fort Bridger. Here
they met Lansford Hastings who persuaded about eighty (the Donner
party) to take the Hastings Cutoff. On June 2, the group led by Thornton
separated and started for the Oregon territor)^. For some reason, Morgan
Savage elected to join them; perhaps the reason was sentimental, for Thorn-
ton tells us that on June 18 Morgan Savage was married.^ James Savage
stayed with the Boggs party. Somewhere along the route, his wife Eliza and
the baby died,^ and their graves have been obliterated by the feet of the
thousands who took the same trail.
The Boggs party reached Sutter's Fort on October 28, 1846, too late for
participation in the Bear Flag affair but just in time for many of its members
to join Fremont's California Battalion. Edwin Bryant, who had arrived ahead
of the Boggs party, was enlisting volunteers and Savage must have joined
promptly for he took part in the march from Monterey to San Luis Obispo,
November 17 to December 14, 1846. It is significant that his presence was
recorded, because he was one of the worst malcontents in the battalion.^ In
spite of his dissatisfaction, he stayed with it until it was disbanded in April
1847. From the Indian members of the battalion he learned about the iso-
lated part of the central valley of California, which the Spaniards called the
Tulares and which the white men were to call the San Joaquin Vallev. There
is some evidence that he had visited it previously; also that he had been in
Oregon.^ In any case, his decision to make the valley his home was not a
hasty one, for he was still around Sutter's Fort in September 1 847 doing odd
jobs;^ however, late that fall we find him putting up a brush tent on the
Merced River and setting about making a living as a trader. His ability to
speak Indian dialects and his sympathy with them brought results. In a few
months he had married several Indian women^^ and had been elected chief
of their tribes. Jose Juarez, leader of the powerful Chow-chillas, was one of
his friends. The Indians began to call him El Rey Huero, their Blond King.^^
This title had a peculiar effect upon Savage. His latent leadership devel-
oped with ruthless intensity. His wish became a command. His friends were
now his subjects. He let it be known that he preferred to be called El Rey
Tulareno, King of the Tulares, and he was able to live like one, for he made
/. D. Savage and the Tularenos 325
money in his trading post. Then, too, he had found something, which for
unexplainable reasons had been overlooked for eighty years by the Spanish
and Mexicans, namely, that his domain covered much of what was later to be
one of the rich mining regions in California,^^ and shrewd James D. Savage
set his Indians to digging gold in quantities. The few white men who visited
the Tulares during this time have left fanciful stories of El Rey Tulareiio and
of the extent of territory (from Mariposa to the Four Creeks in the vicinity
of Visalia) over which he ruled— not by taking advantage of his subjects but
simply by outsmarting them.
The gold rush upset law and order all over California, especially in the
Tulares. Every rock and crevice were ransacked for gold, despite the fact
that the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo had guaranteed the Indians in their
ownership of the land.^^ Once more they were being pushed westward, this
time into the ocean. They had the choice of resisting or perishing. They
turned to Savage for help but he was interested only in gold. Indian labor
was cheap; he was determined to use it. This gave rise to the rumor that
Savage, with his domination over the Indians, was playing them against the
whites for his own gain.^*
As more miners came. Savage associated himself with them. In 1 849, James
Wood, J. H. Rider, Charles Bassett and Savage mined at what is called
Wood's Crossing; on the Tuolumne River he was associated with Antonio
Luego; and the same year he opened the Big Oak Flat mining district, all
these claims being worked with Indian labor.^^
In the spring of 1850 Savage's wives told him that the Indians were plot-
ting to drive the whites out of the valley. He thought that he could still
dominate the Indians; but this was not so, for they could not overlook his
association with the miners. Consequently, the first raid by the hill Indians
was directed against his trading post on the Merced.^^ Fearing another attack,
he moved to the Mariposa River, near the junction of Agua Fria, and put up
a branch post on the Fresno. In October, he went to San Francisco for sup-
plies and to cache some of his gold, taking with him a large group of Indians
to impress upon them the might of the white men.^^ One of the group was
Jose Juarez; Jose drank too much and he and Savage quarrelled, Jose get-
ting the worst of the scuffle. The party stayed in San Francisco long enough
to celebrate on October twenty-ninth California's admission into the Union.
On his way home. Savage stopped at Quartzburg and learned that sporadic
raids were occurring up and down the valley. He immediately left for his
post on the Fresno River, because it was more open to attack. There he
found that the Indians were gathering, and, after he had talked with Greeley,
his agent, he addressed them, saying that he knew about the raids and about
their plans to drive out the whites.^^ He pleaded with the Indians to drop
these plans; the white men were too powerful— they would kill them all. As
he talked, he noticed Jose Juarez in the group and called on him to back him
326 Calif ornia Historical Society Quarterly
up, but Juarez had been brooding over his disgrace in San Francisco and
bitterly contradicted what Savage had said. The latter saw that further talk
was useless, so he left hurriedly for his post on the Mariposa.^^
When he reached the Mariposa post he found that Adam Johnston, the
Indian sub-agent for the San Joaquin Valley, had been having talks with the
Indians in an effort to bring about a reconciliation. Johnston had also been
having talks with the miners. He felt, as did most of the white men, that the
raids were sporadic and not serious.^" Even at this date the white men failed
to estimate correctly the ability of the Indians to carry on a long, harassing
war.
On December 17 of that year (1850), a strange thing happened. No In-
dians came into camp for a talk. Johnston thought little about it, but toward
evening Savage discovered that his own Indians had quietly disappeared.^^
This was a sign that something serious was happening and, with a few men,
he set out in pursuit, to prevent his Indians from joining the main group.
About thirty miles from camp he sighted them; they had seen him first and
were waiting on top of a hill. Savage called to them across the intervening
canyon. Thereupon they told him that his post on the Fresno had been raided
and the clerks killed. He was shaken by the news but tried to get them to
come back to camp. The chief replied that working in the mines was too
hard a way to make a living and that his people preferred to supply their
needs in some other fashion; they were determined, he said, to drive the
whites out of the valley. However, if Savage would go back to camp, they
would not bother him for old times' sake. Since his force was small. Savage
decided to go back to Mariposa. This was fortunate, because, only a short
distance away, they found some 200 Indians.^^
By the time Savage reached his place on the Mariposa, a report had come
in, verifying the raid on his Fresno post. He set out with Johnston and about
thirty-five men. Johnston had already sent runners to Agua Fria, Mariposa,
and scattered camps asking for re-inforcements, but the gold rush was still
in full swing and no miner wanted to leave his diggings for what most of
them considered a private fight between Savage and his Indians.
When Savage's party reached the Fresno, a horrible sight lay before them;
the three clerks had been killed and mutilated, the store stripped of its stock
and the cattle driven off. They buried the dead and then went to Mariposa
where they learned that the Indians all over the valley had taken their women
and children to the hills.^^ At last the miners realized that this was no private
quarrel but a general uprising. Consequently Johnston appealed to Gov.
Peter H. Burnett for state aid.^* Meanwhile Savage and James Burney, sheriff
of Mariposa County, raised a company of seventy-four men who met on
January 6, 1851, near Agua Fria and attacked an Indian rancheria on the
upper Fresno. While not defeated, the whites were so worsted that the In-
/. D. Savage and the Tularenos 327
dians were highly encouraged. Burney, in a letter written from Agua Fria
on January 1 3, asked the governor for assistance:
Sir: Your Excellency has doubtless been informed by Mr. Johns [t] on and others of
repeated and aggravated depredations of the Indians in this part of the State. Their more
recent outrages you probably are not aware of. Since the departure of Mr. Johns[t]on,
the Indian agent, they have killed a portion of the citizens on the head of the San Joaquin
river, driven the balance off, taken away all movable property, and destroyed all that
they could not take away. They have invariably murdered and robbed all the small
parties they fell in with between here and the San Joaquin. News came here last night
that seventy-two men were killed on Rattlesnake creek; several men have been killed in
Bear Valley. The fine Gold Gulch has been deserted and the men came in here yester-
day. Nearly all the mules and horses in this part of the State have been stolen, both from
the mines and from the ranches. . . .^s
Bumey then described the attack he and Savage had made on the rancheria,
and appealed to the governor either to send aid or to authorize some one to
raise volunteers, who would not only be paid but would also be furnished
with arms and ammunition.
It is interesting to notice the effect of Savage's personality upon the young
adventuresome men who were in the group of volunteers. In a letter written
to his father by T. G. Palmer from Hart's Ranch on January 1 6, 1 85 1, shortly
after the raid of January 6, the recruit said:
. . . From his long acquaintance with the Indians, Mr. Savage has learned their ways
so thoroughly that they cannot deceive him. He has been one of their greatest chiefs, and
speaks their language as well as they can themselves. No dog can follow a trail like he
can. No horse endure half so much. He sleeps but little, can go days without food, and
can run a hundred miles in a day and night over the mountains and then sit and laugh
for hours over a camp-fire as fresh and Hvely as if he had just been taking a little walk
for exercise. . . .^^
Gen. Persif er F. Smith, commander of the U. S. troops on the Pacific coast,
did not feel that his force was large enough to be effective. Furthermore,
Secretary of War C. M. Conrad, to whom the matter was referred, reminded
Governor McDougal that only the President could call out the militia." It
had been traditional in California that frontiersmen were best equipped to
put down Indian uprisings; therefore, on January 24, 1851, the governor
issued an order calling for the creation of a volunteer group to be known as
the Mariposa Battalion, the supposition being that all of the expenses in-
curred by the state in quelling the Indians would be repaid by the federal
government.^®
In the meantime the U. S. government had begun its traditional policy of
treaty-making. Ever since 1787 it had assumed that the Indians were its
wards and had followed the general plan of extinguishing Indian titles, only
upon the consent of the Indians concerned. In return, the government had
provided compensation in terms of goods, supplies, and intangibles, such as
the services of agents.^^
This policy was complicated in California, first, because of the Mexican
328 Calif or?iia Historical Society Quarterly
and Spanish grants which had to be examined; then there were those persons
(and the number was considerable) who beUeved that they were entitled to
squatters' rights upon the public domain, just as in other areas of the United
States; in the third place, there was the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, which
emphasized that property should be respected. The acute phase of the prob-
lem was the ignorance of most people as to economic conditions in Cali-
fornia, which were entirely out of the familiar proportion because of the
gold rush. Added to these four complications was the fact that the geogra-
phy of the state was inadequately known and the number of Indians a matter
of mere conjecture— estimates ranged from 50,000 to 300,000.^^ As men-
tioned above, Adam Johnston was the agent most closely concerned with
the Indians of the San Joaquin Valley. He had been appointed on April 14,
1849.^^ On September 30, 1850, a commission to negotiate treaties with the
Indians was set up, and on March 3, 185 1, a private land claims commission
was created. The first named commission, composed of Redick McKee,
George W. Barbour, and O. M. Wozencraf t, arrived in California in January
of 1 851; the second, concerned with land claims, arrived later but made no
move to carry out its instructions as far as the Indians were concerned.^^ The
Indians were not literate, they were not apprised of the commission, and did
not present their claims. Neither did the United States do it for them through
their agents. Thus, through ignorance, fear, and laxity, the unhappy Indians
relinquished title to their lands.^^
The treaty commissioners attempted to carry out their instructions but
only in the face of great difficulty and opposition. Between March 19, 1851,
and January 7, 1852, they concluded eighteen treaties and one supplemen-
tary treaty.^* The integrity of these men could not be questioned; neverthe-
less they, like most easterners, misunderstood the situation in California and
tried to impose upon the whites a conciliatory policy. The whites on their
part regarded the Indians as lazy, inferior, and without inherent rights. On
January 14, 1851, the commissioners visited the governor. They asked for
a military escort; at the same time, they criticized him for calling out the
Mariposa Battalion, whose members expected to be paid five or ten dollars
a day, "thus making another pretty little claim against Uncle Sam, who
would be expected to foot the bill." Ill feeling among some elements was in-
creased by recommendations such as the following, quoted also from the
commissioners' statement, which the Alta California published in its issue of
January 14, 185 1:
. . . the Commissioners appeal to their fellow citizens, in such disturbed districts, to
adopt and pursue towards the Indians, a course of conduct marked by mildness, moder-
ation and forbearance . . . holding themselves wholly on the defensive, at least until time
shall be afforded us to investigate, and if practicable address their grievances. ... As
there is now no furthest West, to which they can be removed, the General Government,
and the people of California, appear to have left but one alternative in relation to these
remnants of once numerous and powerful tribes, viz: extermination or domestication.
/. D. Savage and the Tularenos 329
As the latter includes all proper measures for their protection and gradual improvement,
and secures to the people of the State an element greatly needed in the development of
its resources, viz: cheap labor ... it is the one which we deem the part of wisdom to
adopt, and, if possible consummate.
The commissioners' belief in a domestication or a reservation system
aroused a storm of protest in California. The people were also irked by the
commissioners' habit of wasting time. It was becoming more and more dan-
gerous to carry on in the mines. Governor Burnett in his message to the
legislature in January 1 85 1, had flatly stated that "... a war of extermination
would continue to be waged until the Indian race should become extinct."
It was beyond the power or wisdom of man, he thought, "to avert the in-
evitable destiny."^^
The Daily Pacific News of March 7, 1851, editorialized as follows:
. . . We have conversed with Judge [John] Marvin, recently elected Superintendent
of Public Education, and from him we have learned many important particulars.
He represents the Indians as numbering probably 7000, with hostile determination,
spread through the mountains between the waters of the Tuolumne and the headwaters
of the San Joaquin. They have intercommunications through the mountain passes, by
which they will probably be able to concentrate the greater part of their force upon
whatever point may be attacked by the Americans. Judge Marvin's opinion is that the
Indians must be pretty severely drubbed before they will so far respect our power as to
keep any treaties they may agree to, if such may be entered into with them. One thing
is very evident; there must be immediate action. Our Commissioners must be active, or
a long, bloody and costly war is inevitable. While we hesitate or lose time, the golden
moment for pacification may be forever lost. Even since this article was commenced,
news has arrived of another battle, the particulars of which the reader will find in an-
other place.
There can be no doubt that the Indian tribes of the mountains have been underesti-
mated by writers and others. The gentleman above referred to says that he considers
them as brave as the Mohawks, or any other of the eastern tribes. ... It looks now very
doubtful whether the Gentlemen of the Commission will be able to secure peace before
a severe lesson shall have been taught the belligerent tribes.
. . . We believe the Commission fully competent with the aid of gentlemen well ac-
quainted with the Indian character, who are ready to cooperate, to settle the whole mat-
ter if it be possible without the last appeal. But if that be done it must be done quickly.
The Saxon blood is up, and when it is so, like the rolling Mississippi, no slight levee will
stay it within its channels.
January and February had been months of confusion— the commission
paying official calls and getting supplies, the Mariposa Battalion in process
of organizing. Every day reports came in from scattered camps, telling of
new (and, in many cases, imaginary) raids. Savage had been called upon by
the commissioners to act as interpreter.^® He advocated their policy of get-
ting the Indians on reservations, both for their protection and his own suc-
cess, for he depended upon cheap labor. In spite of his advocacy of the
reservation system, he was highly regarded by the men in the battalion be-
cause of his knowledge of the Indians and his personal courage. It is little
wonder that when the Mariposa BattaHon, with a roll of 204 men, was finally
3 30 California Historical Society Quarterly
mustered in at Agua Fria on February lo, 1851, James Savage was elected
major."'^ Camp was set up near Savage's ruined post on the Mariposa, their
orders being to keep in subjection all of the tribes on the east side of the
valley from the Tuolumne to Tejon Pass. As the days passed and nothing
happened, Major Savage moved his camp fifteen miles below the town of
Mariposa and continued to wait for some word from the commissioners.
Much controversy has arisen over Savage's election to the office of major
of the battalion; but his knowledge of the Indians was extensive, nor could
anyone challenge his abiHty to inspire his followers; and the opinion of some
contemporaries that James Burney and Walter Harvey wanted the post can
be argued to no great advantage.^^ What made the battalion famous was not
military exploit but the fact that, in pursuing the Indians, it discovered the
Yosemite Valley.
When the commissioners reached Stockton, they were greeted by all sorts
of stories of murders and raids. This time many of the stories were true. On
February 11, Wozencraft, Barbour, and Judge Marvin left the main body
and went to Dent's Crossing on the Stanislaus to treat with the Indians sup-
posed to be there.^^ The other commissioners started for Graysonville on
the San Joaquin, where they were joined on February 14 by Wozencraft
and Barbour and some twelve Indians, "as slovenly, lazy, degraded and
miserable looking as those we see in our streets daily. . . . They retired to the
comforts of their serapes, after gobbling up the Commissary's issue."*^
Wozencraft reported that the talk at Dent's Crossing had been successful
in that Jose Jesus and Packano, two friendly Indians, had been receptive to
the idea of living on reservations, but neither chief was willing to go out and
spread the idea among the hostile tribes.*^ The commissioners had then gone
to Cornelius' ferry, about thirty-five miles from the mouth of the Tuolumne,
where they found Cypriano, the chief of still another tribe. Through the
persuasion of "Old" Cornelius, Cypriano agreed to go out and bring in the
chiefs of the hostile tribes within nine days. Whereupon the commissioners
broke camp and started for the Tuolumne, arriving there on the twenty-
first. The Aha California of February 28, 1851, reported that on the march
they
. . . were met by half a dozen horsemen, who were no less distinguished personages
than Major Savage and staff. They had come from Mariposa to meet and confer with
the Commissioners respecting the Indian difficukies. . . . Major Savage says that he can-
not now form a correct estimate of their numbers, although a year ago he possessed
statistics which enabled him to come very near the mark. He thinks that at that time
there were between the Merced and Four Creeks, about 18,000 all told, out of which
there were perhaps 8,000 warriors, of which number there were about 2,000 braves. Since
that period there has been much sickness among them and a very heavy mortality, which
has, of course, materially reduced their numerical strength.
Savage advised the commissioners to act quickly; the Indians might make
treaties but would not adhere to them. He informed the group that his men
/. D. Savage and the Tularenos 3 3 1
were located in three camps: one on the San Joaquin, one on the Fresno, and
one at Mariposa; and that it would be a pleasure for the battalion to end the
whole affair immediately if the commissioners would give him authority to
go after the Indians/^ As Chief Cypriano had not made his promised appear-
ance by February 28, 1851, the commissioners struck camp and started for
the Little Mariposa. This was really near the scene of action, for several men
were murdered within a few miles of the place the night they arrived. Their
plan was to wait about a week more for Cypriano and then strike out for
Fremont's old camp. Meanwhile Savage was camped a mile or so away, wait-
ing for word to chastise the Indians. Even Adam Johnston felt that neither
the Indians nor the Americans would respect treaties. He thought that a few
forts in the valley, manned by soldiers with an Indian agent in charge, to
punish both delinquent whites and Indians, would do more to solve the mat-
ter than treaties.*^ Moreover, the Mariposa Battalion was having its own
troubles: Indians were stealing its horses and mules; the men were tired of
inactivity; and Savage was worried because no pay was forthcoming for the
expedition's personnel. He despatched a letter to Governor McDougal in-
forming him that in the past few days eight men had been killed in the min-
ing districts and that that he felt his command could have prevented these
murders if the commissioners had given the word. He reminded the governor
that the battalion was in need of arms, ammunition, and means of transpor-
tation and that the men were becoming very dissatisfied.** The governor
was sympathetic. He belonged to the group that wanted action in quelling
Indian troubles on the frontier. Consequently early in March he sent a mes-
sage to the legislature, asking that it pass suitable provisions for the emer-
gency and stating that the federal government would pay all of the expense
involved. The bill was passed after heated debate, necessitating evening ses-
sions which were well attended, even by "a great number of our beautiful
townswomen "*^
On March 15, 1851, nearly 200 Indians came to the commissioners' camp
for a talk. The plan proposed to them, and to which they seemed to acqui-
esce, called for a reservation on the Merced River where they could farm
and raise stock; and Wozencraft, Barbour, and some of the Indians promptly
left for the Merced to select a suitable spot. In the meantime, Capt. John
Kuykendall and his Co. A, Mariposa Battalion, had been attacked by a band
of Indians on the San Joaquin. Ten natives were killed, and the troops de-
stroyed several tons of jerked beef and large quantities of acorns.*^
The Chow-chillas, the Yosemites, and the Neuch-teus had refused to come
in to the talks; therefore, on March 19, Savage was told to go out after
them.*^ He took companies B and C, commanded respectively by John
Bowling and William Dill, and started for the headwaters of the Merced to
subdue his old mountain enemies, the Yosemites. After three days' march
through snow-covered mountains, the volunteers reached the South Fork
332 California Historical Society Quarterly
of the Merced, about seven miles above the rancheria of the Neuch-teus, and
on March 23 arrived at the rancheria itself. Through a Chow-chilla Indian
(husband of a Neuch-teus woman) in his command, Major Savage sent
word that if the Indians attempted to leave the rancheria they would be
killed. Finding themselves trapped, the Indians gave themselves up without
a gun being fired. The major talked with Pan-Wache, chief of the Neuch-
teus, in his own dialect and told him that if his tribe would consent to live
like good Indians the whites would not disturb them. Pan-Wache replied
that he had not believed the promise before, but, now that Savage had made
it, he, Pan-Wache, believed it.*^ The volunteers then prepared to march
against the Yosemites, distant about twenty-five miles on the middle fork of
the Merced. Major Savage had sent forward an Indian courier to tell the
Yosemites he was on his way and that he wanted the chief, Tenaya, together
with his tribe, to come to his camp. Tenaya and his two sons complied, but
brought no others of the tribe with them, saying that they were all good
Indians, that they had never stolen animals nor killed white men; besides,
the snow was deep, and as they had plenty of acorns they were living hap-
pily. But these Indians had committed numerous depredations about Burn's
Diggings and Mariposa, and their assertions of peaceful intentions obtained
no credence from Savage, who, with part of his command, pushed through
the snow to the middle fork, taking with them the chief of the Yosemites.
They destroyed the Indians' crib of acorns and their huts, and on March 29
started with all the Indians for headquarters. The Alta California for April
23, 185 1, from which this account has been briefed, continues:
The rancheria of the Yo-Semites is described as being in a valley of surpassing beauty,
about ten miles in length and one mile broad. Upon either side are high perpendicular
rocks, and at each end, through which the middle fork runs, deep canyons, the only
accessible entrance to the valley. The forest trees, such as pine, fur, redwood, and cedar
are of immense height and size. . . .
On the first day of April the whole command arrived at the headquarters of the reg-
ulars on the Fresno, and the Indians were turned over to the Commissioners. The Com-
missioners declined treating with them until the Chow-chillas came in, but furnished
them with a supply of food and some clothing.
The Chow-chillas had not yet made any attempt to come in; so, on April
13, Savage started out after them. Early in May, he issued an order to the
battalion canceling leaves. Then, on May 4, came the following:
Captain John Bowling.— Sir: You will, with thirty-five of your company, take up the
line of march for the Yo-Semite vicinities. You will, if possible, surprise them and whip
them well. But in the event you cannot surprise them you will make use of any means
in your power to induce them to come down and treat.*'-^
By May 15, Bowling was able to report to Savage that he had had a brush
with the Indians, killing two of Tenaya's sons and capturing the old chief
himself. Bowling told the Yosemites that they had been "taught the double
lesson, that the white man would not give up the chase without the game.
/. D. Savage and the Tularenos 333
and at the same time, if they would come down from the mountains and
behave themselves, they would be kindly treated."^^
As commander of the battalion. Savage is given credit as the discoverer of
Yosemite Valley. The date of entry was March 25, 185 1, and the first sight
of it was from what is now called Inspiration Point.^^ Later they camped at
the base of EI Capitan. Credit for naming the valley goes to Dr. Lafayette
Bunnell, a member of the expedition. The beauty of the place made a deep
impression upon him and he thought it only fitting to commemorate the
name of the Indians who also loved their valley home. Ethnologically, the
name should have been Awani, which was the name of the principal ranche-
ria and by inference the name of the Indians.
The beauty of the valley made little impression upon Savage.^^ He was
intent on getting the Indians settled upon reservations and resuming his trad-
ing activities. He had not gone far in his pursuit of the Chow-chillas because,
as was said above, the commissioners had recalled him to act as their inter-
preter. When Bowling came back from the Yosemite, he took over the
Chow-chilla campaign. It had the aspects of a wild goose chase since the
Indians would not make a stand and fight; but by this time it was apparent
that the backbone of resistance had been broken, although sporadic raids
could be expected for months to come.
The difficulties experienced by the commissioners in making treaties went
beyond the bitter opposition of the Calif ornians and the fact that the num-
bers of Indians did not tally with the figures they had been given: Washing-
ton now (May 25, 185 1 ) served notice that when their second appropriation
of $25,000 was exhausted they were to stop the negotiations and assume the
status of Indian agents.^^ In order to speed up their work, they divided their
territory so that McKee had northern California, Wozencraft the region
between the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers, and Barbour the area from
the San Joaquin south. When negotiations stopped in January 1852, they
had met with about 1 20 bands or tribes and the reservations established under
the treaties included some 8,518,900 acres, or roughly seven per cent of the
entire state, including most of the San Joaquin Valley.^* Besides overlooking
the bitterness of the miners, the commissioners made other mistakes; for
example, the stipulation of settling Indians on lands not previously occupied
by them was without precedent. It is certain also, that the men who gave
them the padded figures intended to make money by supplying Indians who
simply did not exist. After the discovery of Yosemite Valley, Dr. Bunnell
feared that Savage was being used by this "Indian ring"— that he was "being
surrounded by combinations" which he, Bunnell, did not like. "Sharp men,"
Bunnell told Savage, "are endeavoring to use you as a tool to work their gold
mine. Besides this, you have hangers-on here who are capable of cutting your
throat." But Savage answered that he was perfectly aware of the situation
and that he felt he would eventually win out.''^
334 California Historical Society Quarterly
To return to the treaties— when they reached Washington, the Califor-
nians in Congress went into action. Although officials most directly con-
cerned, such as Edward Beale, superintendent of Indian affairs for CaUf omia,
urged that the treaties be adopted, they were unanimously rejected by the
U. S. senate on June 8, 1852, and placed in the secret archives where they
were to remain for almost half a century.^® Before news of the rejection
reached California, several reservations had been set up and the Indians
placed upon them. One of the reservations was on the Kings River, in the
vicinity of the place where it would be crossed by white men traveling
through the valley.^^ Once more Savage was to dominate the picture, not as
a conqueror but as the champion of the Indians. Whether this was due to
humanitarian or economic reasons is a matter of conjecture.
After the Mariposa Battalion was mustered out on July i, 1851, Savage
had set about recouping his losses by opening a store on the Fresno near
Coarse Gold.^^ He did a splendid business with the miners, who preferred to
pay his prices rather than go back to the coast after supplies. A month earlier
he had applied to Adam Johnston for a license to act as an Indian trader. It
cost him $ 1,200 but, because of it, he and his partner, L. D. Vinsonhaler, were
free to trade with the Indians in the area between the Chowchilla and
Kaweah rivers; and also, as a licensed trader, he could petition the govern-
ment for redress of the losses he had sustained in the raid of December 1 850.
This claim totaled $25,150 but his petitioning was fruitless.^®
By the spring of 1852, better mining methods were needed in California.
Their installation called for more stable settlements, which, in turn, called
for enforcement of law and order; and as the number of settlers increased
in Mariposa County, which had been created in 1850 with the prospect of
subdivision as the need arose, it suffered a salutary amputation in the setting
up of Tulare County on April 20, 1852. The latter extended from Mariposa
County to Los Angeles County and from the Coast Range to the Sierra. In
it were three houses and some dozen bona fide residents. July 10 was set for
the organization election and the commissioners selected to supervise it were
Savage, John Bowhng, M. B. Lewis, and W. W. McMillen. There were two
polling places: one at Pool's Ferry on Kings River where W. J. Campbell
was to act as the inspector; and the other was in Wood's cabin on the
Kaweah, William Dill, inspector.^^ Rumors of Indian trouble on the Kings
River were current. For that reason the men who left Mariposa for Four
Creeks were heavily armed. When they came to Pool's Ferry, some stayed
there and some went on to the Four Creeks country. Major Savage led the
latter group.^^
July 10 dawned as only a native of the valley can appreciate. By mid-
morning it was so warm that Savage moved the polling place from the
Wood cabin to the shade of an oak that has since been called Charter Oak,
where the Mariposans proceeded to cast 109 votes.^^ The officers-elect took
/. D. Savage and the Tularenos 335
their oaths within a few days, but the certification of election did not come
until early August. By that time, four of the men who had been prominent
in the election had met violent deaths: Dr. (?) Edwards, county clerk, was
killed in a fight in Mariposa; L. C. Frankenburger, county treasurer, was
found dead in the swamps; Dr. C. E. Everett was shot in a brawl; and James
Savage succumbed from the effects of a bullet fired by Walter Harvey, the
newly elected judge of Tulare County. The events leading up to the quarrel
between the last two men are best recounted by contemporaries.
San Joaquin
July 2, 1852
Editor, Alta California
A few days ago, the Indians on King's River, warned Campbell Poole & Co., ferrymen,
to leave, showing at the same time their papers from the Indian Commissioners. The
Indians then left and threatened to kill the ferrymen if on their reservation when they
returned. Mr. Campbell has been collecting volunteers, many have joined him. Major
Harvey left this evening with some eighteen or twenty men. A fine chance for the boys
to have a frolic, locate some land, and be well paid by Uncle Sam. Lieutenant Moore has
been sent for from the head of the Merced, as Fort Miller, here, is nearly deserted. Some
miners are talking of going thirty or forty miles up the river prospecting. They will
probably get up another fandango there, as the Indians will be almost certain to attack
them. Fresno, Coarse and Fine Gold Gulches have fewer miners now than they had ten
days ago, many having left for the San Joaquin, and some on one or another Indian Ex-
pedition. Spangled Gold Gulch is almost deserted. The Fresno diggings are almost a
failure. The soldiers have not succeeded in getting near enough to the Indians of the
upper Merced to get a fight.®^
The subsequent attack made upon the Indians on Kings River was too
much even for Cahfornians who were hardened to hearing of raids upon the
natives. The outburst of criticism, directed against the whites who were in-
volved, induced them to write a statement trying to justify their course of
action.
King's River, July 8, 1852
As various and conflicting rumors are in circulation relative to the origin of the diffi-
culties between the Indians and the whites, and the circumstances regarding the fight,
we deem it a duty which we owe to ourselves, and the party engaged in the skirmish,
and to the community in general, that a fair and impartial statement of the whole affair
should be pubhshed emanating from those who are in possession of all the facts con-
nected with the case.
On the first day of this month, a party of Indians, some sixty in number, part of whom
were armed with their bows and arrows, came to the store of Campbell Poole & Co., and
had a talk with Mr. Edmunds, one of the proprietors of the ranch, through their chief,
Watoka, and his interpreter, in language to this effect: When Major Savage first came
to this country, he gave them blankets and camisas, that they, the proprietors of this
ranch had not done so; that Major Savage had said that they should do as he had done.
Then they ordered the party at the store to leave the river. Then they handed Mr.
Edmunds a note, a copy of which is herewith transcribed:
Fresno River, June 17, 1852
Greetings: Know all men by these presents, that the holder of this, Watoka, is the
33<^ Calif or7^ia Historical Society Quarterly
chief of the Chonemnc tribe, and has treated with the Commissioners for the lands which
he now occupies, which said land, he, the said Watoka, is resolved to hold and occupy
with his people, apart and alone, entirely free from white men and their settlements.
He, the said Watoka, desires me to say that no molestation or hindrance v/ill be given
to white men traveling through this country, but that he is determined to prevent all
encroachments on his people's land.
James D. Savage
Mr. Edmunds and a hired man were all the parties on the premises at the time the
Indians came up and commenced talking. A party of four men came to the ranch during
the conference with the Indians. What was said and done by the Indians being consid-
ered tantamount to a declaration of hostilities on their part, it was agreed upon that a
small party of men would remain at the store, while Mr. Edmunds should go to the San
Joaquin, Fine and Coarse Gold Gulches to get a sufficient body of men to protect his
ranch from the expected attack of the Indians. Mr. Edmunds, and his partner, Mr. Camp-
bell, went to the places above named, and collected a force of some 25 men, a part of
whom arrived at the ranch on King's river the night of the second day; the balance
arriving with Mr. Campbell early the next morning. We were all immediately organized
into a company under the command of Major Harvey, twenty-five men in all; a few,
some half dozen, remaining at the store for its protection. . . .
Previous to our arrival at the rancheria. Captain Harvey addressed the company, and
gave his plan of action; appointing by consent of the company, three of the party to hold
a conference with the Indians for the adjustment of difficulties if possible. The company
had orders to wait the issue of this conference before an action should ensue.
On our arrival at the rancheria, the Indians were occupying it, apparently in a peace-
able attitude. The company was divided into two columns. The left, under the command
of Lieutenant Mathews was ordered to take a position back of the rancheria, between
the rancheria and the river nearby; while the right, under command of Captain Harvey
took a position immediately in front. The three men appointed to treat with the Indians,
proceeded into the rancheria to one of the bush tents pointed out, and inquired in Span-
ish of the Capitan of the rancheria if Watoka was in. The Indian replied in Spanish
(whom we will call the interpreter) that he was out getting something to eat.
About this time several other Indians came up to the brush arbor where we were talk-
ing. Among them one came with a paper [signed by Savage] in his hand, which was
taken from him, a copy of which has been given [above]. He acknowledged himself to
be the Capitan, but at first denied it. During the conference, some firing was heard at
the upper end of the rancheria, by the party stationed between the rancheria and the
river, at an Indian who was endeavoring to make his escape across the stream, after being
ordered to stop. Captain Harvey requested the commissioners to the Indians that they
must come out under the oak tree, immediately in front and close by, and hold a talk
with us. The Indian named as Capitan endeavored to bring his men out; they refused
to come. An Indian named Francisco (an old offender) was called for at this time and
brought out; there being then only three Indians under the tree, the so called Capitan,
Francisco, and the interpreter.
It was concluded upon to take these three Indians, recognized as principal offenders
in the difficulty, as prisoners, down to Campbell & Poole's ranch. The Indians were or-
dered to move before us; they refused and broke to run, one of them endeavoring in his
flight to snatch a gun from one of our party. At the same moment of time, there was a
general movement in the rancheria and the fight commenced. ... [It continued until the
strategy of the whites won out] After the rancheria was abandoned for the last time, it
was decided best for the party to proceed back to Campbell & Poole's Ferry, as it was
feared that the Indians might make an attack upon the small body of men left in pos-
/. D. Savage ajid the Tularenos 337
session of the store. Pasquale, the chief of all the tribes upon the river, was expected over
this day from the Fresno, with a hundred more warriors. We came back to the ferry
and found all quiet, with the additional force of some men from Mariposa who had
come out to attend the election. All the Indians in the country from King's river to the
Four Creeks have manifested a friendly disposition since the fight.
A party of us went to the Four Creeks after the fight and found some fifteen hundred
Indians collected at one rancheria at a grand feast. There were two Americans at the
Four Creeks at the time of the fight. So as soon as the chief heard of the difficulty he
sent for the men and took them under his protection until our arrival. There are numer-
ous reports as to the dead and wounded. The most reliable is from a wounded Indian
who was in the fight, which corresponds with our opinion that there were nine killed
and as many more badly wounded. On our side there was one man wounded, and one
horse shot. On this statement, which is true and correct, to the best of our knowledge
and belief, rests the basis of our action and the line of our conduct. It remains for an
unbiased and unprejudiced community to render us a fair and impartial verdict.
Under any and all circumstances, we hold ourselves in readiness to defend our country
and our friends from any foe of whatever kind they may be.^*
Signers of the statement: John C. McBee, William Bourland, L. C. Frankenburger, W.
T. Watkins, Abram Brown, Benjamin Bransom, Ira Isoms, Joel R. Brooks.
Members of the company: Jechonias L. Berry, Henry Kruder, Edward Edwards, Walter
H. Harvey, Richard Mathews, James A. Moore, G. W. Newton, John H. Garrison,
James Bryson, William Bower, B. F. Edmunds, Joseph Cox, Charles H. Weick, Wm.
J. Campbell, C. E. Everett.
Criticism of the affair continued by word of mouth and in the press. On
July 17, Walter Harvey issued a personally signed statement in which he
left it "to the public to determine how far the party under my command
have transcended the rules of propriety; conscious myself of having done
no wrong, I do not fear the tongue of slander. "^^ Nevertheless, rumors of
war and massacres of Indians persisted. Indian Agent Wozencraft was said
to have been in San Francisco for the purpose of issuing warrants and send-
ing the US. marshal to investigate the attack on the Kings River reserva-
tion.^^ There was some truth in this report, as will be seen later.
The officials at Fort Miller sent for Savage and asked him to go down to
Four Creeks and meet with the Indians. One of the group who went with
Savage says that,
... he visited in the space of three days some twelve or fifteen different tribes, col-
lected together their chiefs and captains, and explained to them, as he was authorized,
the nature of the difficulty and exhorted them to a strict observance of the treaty obli-
gations. Never was an audience at Divine service more strict and orderly, more attentive
and quiet.67
By authority of Wozencraft, Savage summoned a great council to meet
in Four Creeks on August 15, in an endeavor to settle the trouble.^^ He then
returned to his ranch. It was there that he learned that a detachment of dra-
goons had left Benicia to be present at the council. When the time came to
start for the council. Savage went by way of Campbell's Ferry across Kings
River. Here he met Harvey. The latter and his friends were under a strain,
for it was generally supposed that the dragoons would arrest the leaders of
338 California Historical Society Quarterly
the attack upon the Indians. Savage told Harvey that an investigation was
to be held and advised him to give himself up. Harvey agreed. As Savage
turned to leave, he remarked to Harvey: "Captain Harvey, I understand you
do not consider me responsible for my conduct as an Indian trader, but you
look upon Dr. Wozencraft as an honest man and a gentleman."^^
To this, Harvey replied that he did consider Wozencraft to be a gentle-
man, and when Savage repeated his question about his own qualifications in
that respect, Harvey answered emphatically in the negative; whereupon
Savage knocked him down. In the scuffle. Savage lost his pistol. Judge Mar-
vin, who was present, separated the men and gave Savage back his weapon,
but in a few minutes the men were at it again and once more Savage, who
had put the pistol in his waistband, lost it. Marvin made a move to take Har-
vey's gun away from him but was not in time, for Harvey was already firing
at Savage. The latter fell at the first shot and Harvey gave himself up.
News of Savage's death on August 16, 1852, created a sensation. The news-
papers unanimously regretted it, for public opinion held that he could do
more to keep the Indians in subjection than could all of the troops or treaties.
The following is an instance of descriptive press comment:
The night he was buried the Indians built large fires around which they danced, sing-
ing the while the mournful death chant, until the hills around rang with the sound. I have
never seen such profound manifestations of grief. The young men, as they whirled wildly
and distractedly in the dance, shouted the name of their Father that was gone, while the
squaws sat rocking their bodies to and fro chanting their mournful dirges until the very
blood within one curdled with horror at the scene. ''^^
Everyone in the valley expected a general uprising but the Indians showed
their resentment only by sporadic raids that were to last until the Tule River
War of 1856.
Many accounts have tended to picture Walter Harvey as a broken and
terrified man after the death of Major Savage. "^^ He suffered remorse, but in
the code of the frontier he had done no wrong. Their quarrel was the out-
growth of opposing opinions on the Indian question and there is nothing to
indicate that it stemmed from Savage's election as commander of the Mari-
posa Battahon. A brief outline of Harvey's career after the shooting should
refute the claims that he died haunted by the ghost of James D. Savage:
He was acquitted in the county court of Tulare County.
In 1853, he was a member of Harry Love's posse which supposedly captured Joaquin
Murieta.
In 1854, he was appointed sergeant-at-arms of the California Senate.
In 1859, he married Miss Helen Downey, whose father became governor of California,
1860-62.
In 1 86 1, he was appointed superintendent of immigration at the port of San Francisco,
a post he held until his death in August i86i.'^2
James D. Savage's life was adventuresome. No one thought of him with
indifference. He was unpredictable in the sense that his friends became his
enemies if they interfered with his ambition; he never seemed to bother with
M
/. D. Savage and the Tularenos 339
any fine distinction between ethical points. Much of the good that he did
for the Indians was forgotten in the gossip and controversy which followed
his death. As stated by the Alta California on its editorial page of Sunday,
August 22, 1852:
. . . Major Savage, in the exercise of his official duties, doubtless made many enemies
among our countrymen; but he also had warm and numerous friends. In his death our
State has lost an old and respected citizen, the white residents of the San Joaquin valley
an able exponent of their true rights and demands among the Indians, and the Indians
themselves probably their best and most influential friend.
In 1855, Dr. Lewis Leach had Savage's remains moved to the site of the
old trading-post on the Fresno, where a shaft of granite was erected bearing
the legend, Jas. D. Savage.'^^ The reader, better informed, it may be, than the
casual passerby, can muse over the possible wording of a just epitaph.
NOTES
1. Lafayette H. Bunnell, Discovery of the Yosemite Valley (Los Angeles, 191 1), p. 273.
2. H. H. Bancroft, History of California (San Francisco, 1884-90), V, 713; T. H. Hit-
tell, History of California (San Francisco, 1898), III, 836.
3. James D. Savage's genealogy (compiled mainly from letters of H. M. Savage, It.
col., USA, retired), in information folder on Savage, Bancroft Library; and Horace Bell,
Reminiscences of a Ranger (Los Angeles, 1881), p. 298.
4. Edwin Bryant, What I Saw in California (New York, 1848), pp. 13, 31, 37, 46; and
Bancroft, ibid., p. 528 note.
5. J. Quinn Thornton, Oregon and California (New York, 1849), I, 79.
6. Carl Russell, One Hundred Years in Yosemite (Stanford University Press, 193 1),
p. 23.
7. William F. Swasey, "California in 1845-46," quoted by Bancroft, ibid., p. 374.
8. John A. Sutter, New Helvetia Diary, Sept. 9, 184^-May 25, 1848 (San Francisco,
1939), p. 81; and Jill L. Cossley-Batt, The Last of the California Rangers (Capt. Wil-
liam James Howard), New York, 1928, p. 109.
9. Sutter, op. cit., p. 47, says that on May 31, 1847, Savage was helping James Marshall
on the "Millraise with ploughs & Scrapers"; on July i and again on the sixth (pp. $5 and
57), he was bringing down lumber (shingles and planks) from the mountains; Sept. 23
(p. 80), he was reported as having arrived at the fort from San Jose with Thomas Fallon;
and p. 81 records Sutter's receipt of "the Fremont Cattle from J. D. Savage, 150 head in
all small and large," on Sept. 27, 1847.
10. J. M. Hutchings, Guide to the Yosemite Valley (New York, 1871), p. 64. Of the
five native women who were said to have been his wives, the names of only two, Ee-ki-no
and Ho-Mut, have been recorded.
ir. Bell, /<9J. ^/>.
12. 32d Cong., ist sess., H. Ex. Doc. 2 (hereinafter called Ser. 636), pp. 493-98, G. W.
Barbour, San Francisco, July 28, 1851, to Luke Lea, commissioner of Indian affairs;
especially pp. 494 and 496, regarding territory occupied by Tulare and San Joaquin In-
dians. See also Bell, op. cit., p. 299.
13. Robert W. Kenny, History and Proposed Settlement Claims of California Indians
(Sacramento, 1944), pp. 8, 9.
14. Cossley-Batt, op. cit., pp. no, 115.
340 California Historical Society Quarterly
15. Hittell, /Z>i(i., p. 129.
16. Hutchings, op. cit., p. 63.
17. Ibid., p. 64.
18. Bunnell, op. cit., p. 6.
19. Ibid., pp. 9-10.
20. Cossley-Batt, op. cit., pp. 117-20, transcribes Adam Johnston's letter to Peter Bur-
nett, dated San Jose, Jan. 2, 1851.
21. Alta California, Jan. 3, 1851, under Indian Disturbances; article is signed by
"Arpad."
22. Idem.
23. Cossley-Batt, op. cit., p. 120.
24. Loc. cit.
25. James Burney's letter of Jan. 13, 1851, to the go\'ernor is given in full in California
AsseTnbly Journal, 185 1, pp. 943-45; see also J. M. Bondurant, county judge, and Richard
H. Daly, county att'y, to the governor (and concurred in by David Easton and seventy
others), commending Burney's character, ibid., p. 943.
26. Bunnell, op. cit., pp. 30-33.
27. 33d Cong., spec, sess., S. Ex. Doc. 4 (hereinafter called Ser. 688), p. 196, Adam
Johnston, Merced Indian Reservation, Oct. 8, 1851, writing to Luke Lea, cited law of
1832 with respect to fact that only the President could call out the militia. But see D. P.
Baldwin, member committee on Indian affairs, to speaker of Assembly, Jan. 22, 185 1,
regarding protection of people of Mariposa County, Calif. As. Journ., op. cit., p. 966,
where the right of the governor to call out militia "by an order to the Sheriff . . ." is set
forth.
28. Ibid., pp. 941-42; also p. 1141, where the state w^ould be under the necessity of
negotiating a loan to defray expenses, ". . . in the absence of adequate provision being
made by the general government."
29. Kenny, op. cit., p. 12. %
30. Wozencraft to Lea, San Francisco, Sept. 30, 1851, Ser. 688, op. cit., p. 188; see also
Alta California, Jan. 6, 185 1, under Indian Difficulties.
31. William H. Ellison, "Federal Indian Policy in California, 1846- 1860," Ph.D. Thesis,
Univ. Calif., 1919.
32. Idem.
33. W. W. Robinson, Land in California (Berkeley, 1948), pp. 15, 16.
34. Kenny, op. cit., p. 10.
35. California Senate Journal, 1851, pp. 14-15.
36. Alta Calif or?iia, Feb. 28, 1851. The escort under Captain Stoneman, assigned to
accompany the commissioners, consisted of 25 men, as reported by Wozencraft from
Camp Norris, Sacramento Valley, to Luke Lea on July 12, 1851. (Ser. 636, op. cit., p.
490.)
37. Alta Calif omia, Feb. 28, 1851.
38. Idem.
39. lbid.,¥eh. 13, 1851.
40. Ibid., Feb. 20, 1851.
41. Idem. Wozencraft's diagnosis of the character of the California Indians and how
the reservation idea appeared to him, are presented in his letter to Lea from San Fran-
cisco on May 14, 185 1. (Ser. 636, op. cit., pp. 486-88.)
42. Alta California, Feb. 28, 185 1.
43. Johnston to Lea (as in note 27 above). On the preceding Aug. 4, he had written to
Gen. Ethan A. Hitchcock, in command of the Pacific Division, that he "must therefore
urge the necessity of having a few troops placed within my control." (Ibid., p. 200.)
/. D. Savage and the Tularenos 341
44. Alta California, March 13, 1851.
45. Ibid., March 17, 1851.
46. Ibid., March 24, 1851.
47. Ibid., April 23, 185 1.
48. Ide?n.
49. Wallace W. Elliott, History of Fresno County (San Francisco, 1881), pp. 179, 180.
50. Alta Calif ornia, June 12, 1851.
51. Bunnell, op. cit., pp. 69-70.
52. Ibid., pp. 91-93. An idea of the size of Savage's trading operations may be obtained
from an item in his favor to the amount of $4,278.80, for having supplied flour for dis-
tribution to the Indians, M^hich appears in Wozencraft's tabulation of disbursements.
(Ser. 688, op. cit., p. 398.)
53. Ellison, as in note 31 above.
54. Kenny, op. cit., p. 80.
$$. Bunnell, op. cit., p. 273. .
$6. Kenny, op. cit., p. 24.
57. San Joaqimi Republican, July 24, 1852.
58. Cossley-Batt, op. cit., p. 153.
59. Ser. 688, op. cit., pp. loo-ioi (license) ; pp. 231-33 (damages).
60. Kathleen Small, History of Tulare County (Chicago, 1926), pp. 45-47.
61. Ibid., p. 47.
62. Idem.
63. Alta California, July 10, 1852.
64. San J oaquiji Republican, July 2^, 1852.
6^. Ibid., ]u\y 17, 1852.
66. Alta Calif ornia, Aug. 12, 1852.
67. San Joaquin Republican, July 21, 1852.
68. Alta California, Aug. 12, 1852.
69. San Francisco Daily Herald, Sept. 3, 1852.
70. Idem. Wozencraft, writing to E. F. Beale, sup't. Indian affairs of Cahf., on Sept. 9,
1852, from San Francisco, called Major Savage's death "a sad calamity ... he v^^as a bene-
factor in his limited sphere; his place will long remain unoccupied." (Ser. 688, op. cit.,
p. 401.)
71. Small, op. cit., p. 54.
72. Alta California, Aug. 18, 1861.
73. Russell, op. cit., p. 45.
Documentary
Monterey March 15. 1847
F. D. Atherton Esq. [at Valparaiso, Chile]
Dear Sir,
Your two letters by the Independence [U.S. man-of-war] I have received. I let Genl
M. G. Vallejo have last Octobr a french draft of $500. for you, to send by Capt Bonnet
of the French Ship "Lyon" [a transport] .*
Your brother [Robert] arrived here during my absence (see papers, No. 28 & 29). and
went north. I sent for him & engaged him as a clerk. I send you a file of Newspapers as
a subscriber, I really cannot write you much now. if I could have obtained my pay last
month, from the Squadron, Capt. [John] Paty & myself would have sent the "Don
Quixote" to your port.**
Commodore Stockton with Col Fremont (under the former) owe 300.000$ in Califor-
nia; they have no moneyf & up to Feby. when I left the Commodore, in San Diego, he
would not sell drafts at a discount: he sent the "Erik" [Erie] to Callao for 100.000$. Capt.
[Chas. C] Turner thinking he had not time to be at Panama by the 20th Jany for the
Dec. mail did not go for the money: the Farmer Mechanic Rifleman & merchants, are
therefore without pay. My house has nearly 20.000$ against govnt & on $8000 we are
paying 2 p ct. pr month borrowed money. Comd [James] Biddle will have nothing to
do with the debts.ft We look for Commodore Stockton & Col Fremont daily.
Goods are almost as dear as ever, at the south they are the same, yet these may soon
be up but prices are very uncertain for the next six months.
If you would send a cargo of 15 to 20.000$— (Vessel and cargo insured) to California,
selecting yourself mostly. Wines, Brandys, Groceries, Shoes and clothing, & some Bread
and Flour, some Dry Goods, I will be concerned in half of the risk, profits and loss.
I remain With much respect.
Your most obdt. svt. Thomas O. Larkin [signed]
(Original in collection of A. T. Leonard, Jr., M.D.)
* See A. P. Nasatir, "The French Consulate In California, 1843 -1856," for Moerenhout's
letter to Paris, March 31, 1847, regarding necessity of long credits in California; and also
mention of Le Lion and Capt. Bonnet, this Quarterly, XII (Dec. 1933), 347-48.
** James Biddle, com'g Pacific squadron, U.S. ship Columbus, writing from Alonterey,
March 6, 1847, to Larkin, stated that the blockade of the Mexican west coast had been
revoked and that the "Hawaiian Barque Don Quixote is at liberty to go to San Bias or
Acapulco and return to this port." ("Larkin Documents," Bancroft Library, V, 85.) For
picture of vessel and account of Capt. Paty, see this Quarterly, Dec. 1935, pp. 291 ff.
t A. H. Gillespie, writing from Los Angeles, March 5, 1847, to Larkin, comments on
". . . the great scarcity of money in this quarter, unless obtained at an enormous dis-
count. . . ." ("Larkin Docs." op. cit., V, 65).
tt See 30th Cong., ist sess.. Sen. Ex. Doc. i, pp. 559 ff, regarding disbursement, on pub-
lic account, of moneys collected at ports (as of April 3, 1847). See also H. H. Bancroft,
History of California (San Francisco, 1884-90), V, 572, n. 39, quoting Biddle's orders to
collectors that nothing but specie, treasury notes, or drafts are to be received for duties.
342
Chinese and Japanese Immigration
to the Pacific Coast
By Hart H. North
FOLLOWING the news of the discovery of gold in California in 1848,
a large number of Chinese immigrated to the Pacific Coast of North
America, where for many years, in fact almost to the present time, they
largely engaged in placer gold mining. The American miners never per-
mitted them to operate on the richer deposits which were kept for their own
use; but the Chinese, being used to small earnings, were content to work on
poorer ground which nevertheless afforded them their cost of living. Then,
in the 1 86o's, followed the building of the Central Pacific Railroad where
the grading was done by hand labor, with pick and shovel and wheelbarrow,
and many thousand Chinese coolies were imported for this work. These
coolies were recruited and brought to the United States by the Chinese Six
Companies, so-called then and now. When this work was completed, many
of these laborers, who had saved their wages, returned to China; many others
went to work as laborers in the orchards and vegetable farms of the Pacific
coast, at a wage of eighty cents per day and they found themselves. These
were fine young men in the early prime of life. Their working day was from
sunrise to sunset, with two hours off at midday. For a week at Chinese New
Year's they celebrated and rested, and also many took a few days off at
harvest's end to visit the nearest metropolis. The United States census of 1 880
showed that about every third male adult in California was a Chinese. Of
reputable Chinese women there were only a few, and these were mostly the
wives of merchants and other non-laboring classes. After Chinese exclusion
went into effect in 1882, death and return to China gradually lessened the
Chinese population, and, as they became fewer, their wages went up so that
by the time of the second Cleveland administration, the average farm hand
received from $1.25 to $1.50 per day. Aside from so-called Tong Wars,
waged among themselves by rival factions quarreling over control of prosti-
tution and gambling, the Chinese then here were a very peaceful, decent and
hard-working people.
Up to 1 890 or thereabouts, what Japanese there were then in the United
States were principally of the student class; the others, being only a very
few, were merchants.
As Chinese farm labor became scarce, some Japanese appeared on the
scene, and sought to supplant the Chinese in this work and at any price, first
asking as little as fifty cents per day and they found themselves. The national
census of 1900 showed about 10,000 Japanese in California.
In February 1 898, President William McKinley appointed the writer to
343
344 California Historical Society Quarterly
the office of commissioner of immigration, to be in charge of immigration
for the states of California and Nevada.
Shortly thereafter, steamship lines, operating between the Orient and San
Francisco, arrived with large numbers of Japanese young men, seeking to
land here for the claimed purpose of obtaining higher schooling. They were
clearly of the coolie laboring class, with little or no education. Each was in
possession of just $30 lawful money. Each stated that he did not seek work
and would under no circumstances engage in any occupation other than
that of a student. It was manifest that when the $30 was spent these people
would become public charges; that therefore, under the immigration laws,
they were ineligible for admission, and accordingly they were denied a
landing. Other steamships continued to arrive, bringing additional hundreds
of young Japanese, all telling the same story, and all being similarly dealt
with.
The war with Spain had just begun, and when these young men appealed
to the treasury department at Washington for relief. President McKinley
sent out the late Commissioner John S. Rodgers, then in charge of immigra-
tion at Philadelphia, to suggest to me that, inasmuch as the United States was
then at war with Spain and that it was undesirable to have war with Japan
at the same time, I take the assurances of the consul for Japan at San Fran-
cisco that these young men had changed their minds and that, if permitted
to land, they would seek manual labor and would go to work at once. Ac-
cordingly this was done and the incident was closed. Shortly afterwards,
special agent William Rice of the treasury department was quietly sent to
Japan to try to discover what was behind this movement. After several
months absence, he returned with information that this immigration was ^
approved by the Japanese government and was recruited by Japanese im-
migration societies, who secured the necessary passports, taught them the
story each was to tell the immigration inspector, and advanced the steamship
tickets as well as the I30 "show money."
During this period plantation owners, operating in the Hawaiian Islands,
were hard put for field laborers to take the place of the Chinese, who could
no longer land there because of the exclusion law. Consequently, these in-
terests welcomed Japanese labor and made it easy for all who had arrived
to land, and many thousands secured passports giving Honolulu as their
destination. After being landed there, in United States territory, and con-
sequently free to proceed to such other parts of the United States as seemed
desirable without any further restriction, they very soon, if not immedi-
ately, took passage to the mainland, entering at the ports of Seattle, Portland
or San Francisco, and of course had to be treated as though coming from
contiguous United States territory— that is, free to come and go without any
interference. And from the summer of 1898 to early in the year 1906 many
thousands of young Japanese settled and secured a foothold in the Pacific
states, very much to the indignation of a majority of the American residents.
Oriental Immigration to Pacific Coast 345
who could do no more than protest. Many of these young Japanese men, in
age ranging from about eighteen to twenty-five years, taking advantage of
their opportunity, entered the public schools, and, having had no education
at home, had to begin in the primary or at best grammar-school grades,
where, particularly in country districts, they sat side-by-side with Cauca-
sian children, both boys and girls, aged from ten to fifteen years. This gave
many of the Japanese an opportunity to make approaches to our young
girls, which many of them did, often by passing notes to the girls, expressed
in obscene language.
As such acts became more and more frequent, they caused such a public
outcry that our school authorities began to create public schools limited to
the use of these Japanese, and prohibiting their attendance at the schools
used by young girls. Whereupon the Japanese started a fierce acclaim that
they were being disparaged. In this way they soon received aid and support
from many ill-advised people east of the Rocky Mountains, who of course
were ignorant of the real reason for the segregations. Finally the outcry
reached President Theodore Roosevelt who jumped into the fray on the
Japanese side, and sent Secretary Victor H. Metcalf of the department of
commerce and labor (this department had taken over from the treasury the
administration of immigration laws) out to San Francisco. Mr. Metcalf was
himself a Californian and knew conditions here. He came at once to my
office where he soon learned the real source of the trouble and made his
report accordingly.
As a result, the President negotiated an informal agreement with the Japa-
nese authorities, to cut off their immigration to this country and also to stop
the Japanese in Hawaii from coming to the mainland. This was not a treaty,
but was termed a "Gentlemen's Agreement." And from that day to this, very
few Japanese men of the laboring class have been admitted to our shores.
In 1908, President Roosevelt, having apparently changed his views in re-
gard to the Japanese, sent an American battle fleet under command of Ad-
miral ("Fighting Bob") Evans, on a voyage around the world, via Tokyo.
This was intended to impress them with American might.
Shortly after William Howard Taft became president, Japan evolved a
new plan to establish a permanent population of her people in the United
States; to wit, it was represented that her subjects domiciled here would be
better people were they permitted to send home for their wives, or, in the
event of being single, to be united with some satisfactory young woman in
the homeland by a proxy wedding, a so-called "picture bride."
Now the Chinese originally had few women in the United States, but,
after the passage of the exclusion act, they tried to circumvent the law in
several ways, the most successful being to apply to the United States courts
for a writ of habeas corpus, upon the alleged ground that the applicant was
bom here but had returned to China in infancy, had become a citizen by
place of birth, and therefore was not to be kept out by any exclusion act.
34^ California Historical Society Quarterly
The hearings, held before United States court commissioners, were largely
ex parte, and several thousand young Chinese were permitted to land here
until the practice was put a stop to by the Supreme Court. But many of these
young men, having been held to be citizens by this process, sent to China for
their wives as, at that time, the husband's status determined that of his wife.
Thus in the course of a few years, we had a fixed and constantly growing
population of citizens and residents of Chinese blood, and these people and
their descendants constitute our Chinese population at this time.
This condition was rather well established by the time of the Taf t admin-
istration; therefore, when Japan broached this picture-bride proposition,
the department of labor at Washington referred the matter to me for an
opinion early in 19 lo. Having in mind the results being produced among
these Chinese, I answered that if this request was not considered favorably
and the exclusion of Japanese males was made permanent, in a generation all
Japanese here would have returned to their home country or would be
dead; but if, on the other hand, a permanent population of these people was
desired, no better method could be found than that suggested. Landing a
large number of fecund young females would surely produce a large num-
ber of citizens by right of birth and of Japanese blood.
Soon after this episode, I resigned from the immigration service, but "pic-
ture brides" were admitted by the thousands for about ten years. The Pacific
states protested without avail, passed alien land laws and variously tried to
arouse the American people to an understanding of what was going on.
When Congress adopted the quota system for the regulation of foreign im-
migration and did not include orientals therein, Japan violently protested
that such action was an affront and caused a loss of "face." But when Japan
went so far as to intimate that such omission might constitute a cause for
war, our Congress promptly acted and passed the law excluding all aliens
ineligible to citizenship, thus ending the immigration to this country of
Japanese nationals other than those of the non-laboring classes.
This "insult" and "loss of face" caused much adverse criticism by well-
meaning but ill-informed people, particularly by those living on the Atlantic
coast. And during the last war those same people were bitter against the
military for collecting those of Japanese blood in concentration camps as a
war measure.
From the report transcribed below, there can be little doubt that this
migration to our shores was deliberately planned in all its steps.
Treasury Department, Bureau of Immigration,
Washington, D. C, October 24, 1898
The Honorable, The Secretary of the Treasury
(Through the Commissioner-General of Immigration)
Sir:
As the result of our joint investigation and experience, we beg leave to
Oriental Immigration to Pacific Coast 347
[Report to Secretary of Treasury, continued]
report as follows regarding Japanese immigration to the United States
through the various ports of entry situated on the Pacific Coast.
The immigration of Japanese is substantially divided into three classes,
viz.: The first are persons of means who come to the United States, usually
as cabin passengers, for the purpose of travel, education, or of large mercan-
tile venture. To this class there can be no particular objection.
The second is composed of a lower element of the Japanese population,
but who are possessed of sufficient means to pay their own expenses to this
country, and who are well able to look out for themselves after their arrival
here. As a rule, we do not come into any special conflict with these people.
The third, and by far the largest, class, is composed of immigrants who,
we believe, are recruited by the so-called "Imin," or Japanese Immigration
Companies, which are organized and existing under and by virtue of the laws
of Japan and who, we are informed, are recognized and given due standing
by the Japanese government.
Of these companies we are informed there are about seven in number, the
names of the four principal ones being Kosi Imin Kawaisha; Nihon Gashi
Imin Kawaisha; Hiroshima Imin Kawaisha; and Kobe Imin Kawaisha.
According to the best of our information, a memorandum of agreement
is entered into by the immigrant with these companies, consideration on his
part being a fee of 10 yen or thereabouts. Also, an agreement is made by the
immigrant to purchase his supplies in this country from the various agencies
of the societies located here, the principal feature of the agreement being
that the immigrant offered himself as a laborer and the company guaranteed
to him that they would secure all the necessary preliminary papers, includ-
ing his passport, which is always required by the Japanese government be-
fore one of its subjects is permitted to leave Japan, and that they would do
everything to secure him suitable employment upon arriving in this country.
We also understand that, whether it is actually a part of the agreement or
not, at least the effect is on the mind of the immigrant that he is guaranteed
not only employment in this country at what is to him high wages, but that
he is also to be cared for, not only until such employment is furnished him,
but in case sickness or trouble of any kind may come upon him he is to re-
ceive the utmost protection from the society.
In many cases there is reasonable ground for the inference that "show
money" to the amount of $30 or more is furnished the immigrant, to be ex-
hibited to the immigration inspectors and subsequently returned to the
agents of the immigration company in the United States, by the immigrant.
In the United States, particularly in San Francisco, there are numerous
Japanese boarding houses, so called, which we believe to be the local agen-
cies of the various immigration companies. We believe that the keepers of
these boarding houses are actively engaged throughout the Pacific Coast, in
■'^.
348 California Historical Society Quarterly
[Report to Secretary of Treasury, continued]
looking for possible employment for their countrymen in every ordinary
capacity, as follows: As laborers on railroads; in sugar beet fields and fac-
tories; in all kinds of orcharding and agricultural work; as hotel and board-
ing house servants; and in fact in every common capacity. That whenever
it is found that a certain number can be thus provided for, word is sent to
the immigration society in Japan to send over the number of immigrants
who can be thus placed. Thereupon the immigration society through its
"runners" (who are composed of hotel keepers in Japanese cities) and em-
ployment agents and others who come in contact with the laboring class,
gather together, from the rural provinces principally, the required number.
When they are thus gotten together, the immigration company makes appli-
cation to the Japanese government for passports, which are furnished with-
out any action on the part of the immigrants. If possible, the immigration
companies require the immigrant to furnish guarantors who will be respon-
sible for the worthiness of the immigrant, to the immigration company, and
who will pay the fees of the immigration company, and, whenever it can be
done, who furnish the immigrant with his passage money, although we be-
lieve that these preliminaries are not necessarily pre-requisites with the im-
migration company; that is, where they are compelled to do so, they will
advance the necessary funds, themselves.
In other words, we believe that these immigration societies, by the induce-
ments which they offer, are the principal instigators of Japanese coolie im-
migration to this country; that the system adopted by the societies is not
unlike the so-called padrone system long existing on the Atlantic Coast, and
it constitutes a means whereby the least desirable of the Japanese immigrants
are enabled to find an entrance into this country, and without the assistance
of such organizations this class would be compelled to remain in Japan, and
by the suppression of these societies, the less desirable Japanese immigrants
coming to this country would be considerably decreased.
As substantiating the views contained in this address, we beg leave to call
to your attention the "Law for protecting Imin" furnished by the Japanese
Consul at San Francisco to the Commissioner of Immigration there, and by
him forwarded to the Commissioner General of Immigration in his letter of
July 27, 1898, numbered 16766.
Also to that part of the report of the Minister of Foreign Affairs to the
President of the Repubhc of Hawaii for the biennial period ending Decem-
ber 31,1 897, now in the hands of the Commissioner General of Immigration,
being furnished by the Commissioner at San Francisco, commencing on
page 4 and ending on page 16, and also to all that part of appendix A, appen-
dix B and appendix G referring to the subject of Japanese immigration.
Reference is likewise had to a copy of a contract between the Kobe Im-
migration Company and one Mitsuzo Matsuzo and other exhibits included
by the Commissioner of Immigration at Vancouver, in a letter addressed to
Oriental Immigration to Pacific Coast 349
[Report to Secretary of Treasury, concluded]
the Commissioner-General of Immigration, dated May 3, 1898, numbered
16211.
We beg leave to say that while it is stated in so many words in the con-
tract, and while the Japanese agencies in this country have always made a
great deal out of the fact that these societies were purely beneficiary and for
the protection of immigrants in distress, that not one of us, in all our experi-
ence, has ever known of a single Japanese in distress being returned to the
country whence he came. We desire to add further that it is a fair inference
that these so-called immigration societies are nothing more or less than
money-making institutions which thrive by inducing this lower class of
Japanese coolies to come to the United States, using these promises of assist-
ance as an inducement.
The Commissioner of Immigration at San Francisco believes that these
societies are willing to take illegal steps to secure a landing of their immi-
grants, and in his personal experience he has discovered attempts on the part
of Japanese residents of San Francisco, whom he believes to be the agents
of immigration societies, to illegally land immigrants, both by sending them
information by the use of which they may evade the immigration laws, and
also by offering threats of personal violence to inspectors in the employ of
the Immigration Bureau there located.
In arriving at these conclusions we were influenced largely by the sources
mentioned above, but chiefly, perhaps, by various fragments discovered
from time to time in handling many Japanese immigrants. Also from state-
ments made by Japanese residents in this country and, to a considerable
extent, by statements of Japanese Consuls themselves.
We respectfully suggest, subject to the approval of the Department, that
the attention of the Japanese government be invited to this subject, through
the State Department, to the end that all so-called immigration companies or
"Imin Toriatsukainin" be suppressed, for the reason that their operations
practically constitute a violation of section IV of the Act of March 3, 1891,
which prohibits on the part of the steamship companies (and in this connec-
tion Japanese immigration companies can be placed in the same category)
from soliciting, inviting or encouraging either by writing, printing or oral
representations, the immigration of any alien to the United States, except by
ordinary commercial letters, circulars, advertisements or oral representa-
tions pertaining solely to the transportation facilities, with the evident intent
that no other inducements should be offered to aliens to emigrate to the
United States. Respectfully submitted,
H. H. North, W. M. Rice, Jno. J. S. Rodgers
. . Cotmnissionen
The following is a copy of a contract:
CONTRACT
The Nippon Imin Goshi Co. will make the contract accepting the request, providing
350 California Historical Society Quarterly
two securities which Yoshida Ichitaro who is a free immigrant, having the purpose to
land in San Francisco, North America, and get work there following the limitation that
the immigration laws allowed.
Act. I. The immigrant shall complete everything which is needed for getting the pass-
port and must be responsible to pay all expenses that [are] needed for the voyage and
should have the necessary money which is necessary when landed.
Act 2. The maturity of the contract is three years from the date that the immigrant
starts.
Act 3. If the immigrant gets sick or loses the means to get along, "Narita Toyashira"
Agent, will help him and provide him to get back to Japan in case it is necessary.
Act 4. If the immigrant is sent back at the expense of the Japanese Government, the
company shall pay all expenses for the immigrant.
Act 5. The immigrant shall pay ten yen to the company as its fee. If the immigrant has
a child who does not exceed the age of 15 years, the charge will be half price and if the
child is not exceeding 10 years, will be free of charge.
Act 6. The immigrant shall provide securities to the company according to Acts 3 and
4, and they will be responsible to pay all expenses that have been paid by the company.
Act 7. The two securities are responsible in all the matters pertaining to the immigrant.
This contract is made in duplicate, one to the immigrant and one to the company.
Meiji 31st year (1898), ist month (January), 31st day.
(Signed) Hamanaka Hachitaro
Special Manager Japan United Immig. Company
Immigrant— (Signed) Yoshida Ichitaro
Wakayama Ken.
Securities— (Signed) Yoshida Yohei
(Signed) Yamamoto Kusu
II
The Oregon and California Letters of
Bradford Ripley Alden
(Concluded)
Fort Jones, Cal.
[To Col. W. G. Freeman] Aug, 29, 1853
Sir:
The papers are filled with the accounts of Capt. Alden's wounds. He has
been severely, though not dangerously, wounded, in an Indian fight, near
Jacksonville, about ninety five miles from this Post. He was fighting like a
Hero when he received his wound, musket in hand, after he had fired several
times, and was in the act of picking up his rammer, which had fallen on the
ground. He received a wound from a rifle ball; it entered the right side of
the neck, near the jugular vein, and came out on the left side of the back
bone. Judge Robinson [see note 57] informs me the Capt. is on his way to
this Post, and will be here to-day or to-morrow; he is able to walk about. The
Judge says his wound is not at all dangerous, though very severe. I would
write you more of the particulars but the express will not wait.
If Capt. A. is not able to write by next mail, I will. I have written to his
wife, and directed the letter to York, Pa. ^ ,
Jos. W. Collins
Lt. 4th Infy.
Jacksonville, Oregon
Dear Mrs. A. Aug. ^9, 1853
At the request of Capt. Alden I enclose herewith a line from him, and
write a word myself to assure you that the wound, which he received in
a battle on Wednesday the 24th inst., is not dangerous. We are the more
anxious to write instantly on this point as the report has gone forth through
the newspaper that it was dangerous. I am most happy to be able to write
this and must add that he greatly distinguished himself in this battle leading
the charge upon the Indians, which has resulted in their submission, suing
for peace. Genl. Lane commanded in the affair being also slightly wounded
in the shoulder. In two days a council with the Indians is to be held, which
will result we hope in the pacification of the country. The conduct of Capt.
Alden and the small band of regulars with him is the theme of admiration on
all hands. As I approached this place yesterday morning you will judge of
the thrilling interest with which I heard from the lips of a young Oregonian
who was in the fight, the terms of praise in which he spoke of Capt. A. & his
men. With much more interest did I hear that now his wound was esteemed
352 California Historical Society Quarterly
not to be a dangerous one. It appears to be entirely a flesh wound entering
near the neck following the surface & coming out behind the shoulder. He
has had the kindest attention, & the best medical advice in the country. He
will have to lie patiently for several weeks, and as he bore his wound with so
much resolution and heroism, I cannot doubt that a few days will make him
quite comfortable. This hoteP^ appears to be a very good one where he gets
all the attention the country can afford.
I was ordered hither from the Dalles to locate a road^^ through this coun-
try, and hearing in the Umpqua Valley of the troubles raised a company of
citizens to repair to the aid of this valley. I reached here this morning, finding
to my satisfaction that Capt. A. had arrived here yesterday, being brought
forty miles on a litter, that being the easiest mode in which he could be
conveyed. ^ • • t i i . i o i
•' 1 remam with the highest respect & regard
Your friend & obedient servant
Benj. Alvord
I am surprised to find the Captain greatly pleased with the wound as
honorable and thus satisfactory, though I have no desire myself to be thus
gratified.
The labors & exertions of Capt. A. on this theatre of operations have been
immense. He has accomplished wonders with small means & under the most
untoward circumstances. I have left my command to remain with him
twenty-four hours & am sorry I cannot stay longer. I go tomorrow to the
treaty ground, & thence to an exploration to the northward of the road.
Ft. Reading Cal.
Cotton Wood P. Ofiice
Dear Freeman, P • /» 53
The newspapers of this region contain an announcement that Capt. Alden
is mortally wounded in an encounter with Indians about 200 miles north of
this and as I fear this false intelligence may reach his wife by the next steamer
I write you to give you the facts in the case. We have received here a letter
from his subaltern Lieut. Collins stating that his wound is not dangerous. So
he has only been inflicted with glory instead of death, a difference which
I hope you will communicate to his family as speedily as possible as it may
save them much anguish. Please to mention also to Mrs. Alden that the
Daguerreotype sent out by Mr. Trowbridge has been sent to the Capt. and
is no doubt in his hands now. I brought it in my trunk from San Francisco
and put it in charge of Dr. [Francis] Sorrel who left here for Ft. Jones a
week since; it will reach its destination very opportunely. I have never seen
Mrs. Alden but I have frequently heard of her and I never was more tempted
to break a seal than when I had her daguerreotype in my charge.
Tell her that instead of regretting the circumstances she has cause for con-
Letters of Bradford Ripley Alden 353
gratulation as it may be the means of her seeing the Captain much sooner
than under other circumstances. 60 men from Benicia arrived here yesterday
on their way north to the region of the difficulties. There may be no neces-
sity for them but they will probably continue their march until the matter
is certain. I am very busy and only write to relieve Mrs. Alden and the Cap-
tains other friends.
With many kind feelings & wishes for you & yours
I am very truly
Lt. Col. W. G. Freeman Your friend & classmate
Washington, D. C. Morris S. Miller^^
-. -J Jacksonville, Oregon California
Mrs. Alden o ^ i_ ^1 r.
My dear Madam, September .3th, 1853
I am very proud to be the means of informing yourself and family, that
your much to be respected husband Captain Alden is again very nearly re-
stored to health and spirits, and in a short space of time will again be able
either to lead his gallant men to other victories, or return to his dear wife
and family covered with honour and glory.
The Captain's wound altho' in a dangerous locality (the neck) is progress-
ing as favourably as possible and I am happy to add will not in the slightest
injure either his future health or personal appearance. We have all deeply
deplored the report which was circulated and published in the Mountain
Herald stating that Capt. Alden's wound would prove fatal in a few hours,
but sincerely hope and trust that the report did not reach you, before it was
fully contradicted.
Hoping my dear Madam this will find yourself and interesting family in
the full enjoyment of God's greatest blessing, health.
Believe me to remain
Yours respectfully
W. H. Gatliff, M.D.
Jacksonville, O.
My dear wife- Septr. 13-/53
God be praised, I am on my feet again— wounds healed and am to travel
for Fort Jones in two days.
I am amazed at this blessed result and that my right arm is not made use-
less. These few lines, you see, are quite firmly written, and tell you all the
truth. [In places, especially toward the end, his letter shows the difficulty
he had in writing. ]
My wound seems purely Providential— the ball glided past all vital parts,
and only did me a sort of honor. Such sympathy I did not look for.
My escape with life is a God's wonder and everlasting cause for joy. The
danger was imminent I assure you. Your letters have all come, thank God, to
3 54 California Historical Society Quarterly
revive me. Without them I doubt if I could have written these lines— but
my ever dear wife and children, thrice endeared now, we are in God's hands.
The Surgeon is rejoiced at this success, but stops me for this mail.
Such generous friends as rise up around me I am amazed at. There is noth-
ing they would not do for me. . . .
My best friend who has nursed me day and night (Mr. Dart)®'' will add a
few lines.
My dear Mrs. Alden, Jacksonville Oregon Sept. 13, 1853
Among a thousand friends of the Captains we are amazed and rejoiced to
see him well and on his feet to day. The reception of your letters and beauti-
ful Daguerreotype which came yesterday seems to have wrought a miracle
in him. He took a little walk to day with his arm in a sling and is so remark-
ably strong that the Doctor pronounces him strong enough to travel to Fort
Jones in a few days— to avoid risks he will carry him in a litter and a light
wagon, though the Doctor says he might ride a gentle mule.
You do not know my dear Madam, how much we are rejoiced at this re-
sult. If the captain would set up for congress I think we could elect him
to morrow. I can assure you that no man has more or warmer friends in this
region than our friend Capt. Alden. yours with Respect
George Dart
Fort Jones Scotts valley
My dear Annie- Sept. 2 2 d-5 3
With my wound healed, and in good condition, I reached my post to-day
—to the wonder of every body. The only trouble I suffer is from lameness
in my right arm. I have to carry it in a sling, and my fingers are so stiffish
that, as you perceive, my writing looks odd.
I walk about, sit at the table, and eat all my meals, but of course use the
privilege of an invalid— not being imprudent enough to report for duty.
How happy your letters up to Aug. 4th made me— and the wonderful
daguerreotype—
But the doctor thinks perhaps I ought not to use my hand quite yet, and
so I must finish by my amanuensis.
I must tell you how like a prince I have been treated by the whole popu-
lation of this land.
Full of love and wonder and gratitude to God. . . .
[Written by an amanuensis] Fort Jones, Sept. 23, 1853
My dear Annie,
It seems miraculous that in one short month I should have recovered from
my wound as I have, and that I should be walking about & eating and drink-
ing like anybody else but thank God such is the truth. I would be perfectly
content to loose [sic] the use of my right arm for life having escaped so nar-
Letters of Bradford Ripley Alden 355
rowly as I did & saved my life for your sake. But the weakness in my right
arm I trust will disappear in a few months and perhaps my arm will remain
like Genl. Scott's. Whether I shall resign immediately or not is a little em-
barrassing. All my military friends advise me to go home as an invalid and
if I wish to resign then to resign at home. This important question I shall
settle, I think, by the next steamer.
I think you did very right in disposing as you did of the resignation I sent
you. It seems all for the best and providential. I think I shall get a leave of
absence and go to San Francisco, in about 20 days, and then perhaps if my
arm continues lame I may embark for home. At this moment I cannot posi-
tively decide this point for if my arm should recover in a month I would
prefer resigning and remaining six months in San Francisco [to] try my for-
tunes, but time must disclose.
Continue to address your letters to Major Townsend. . . .
Fort Jones, Scotts valley, Cal.
My dear wife- October first / 53
It is astonishing how soon I have recovered from my dangerous wound.
I walk about every where, but with my right arm in a sling. It is a great
undertaking to make my fingers write, but love does wonders.
In one week I am to leave here for San Francisco on my way home on
furlough as a wounded soldier. If the Isthmus or Nicaragua route is safe from
fever, I would propose to leave San Francisco the first of November. The
fever on the route might however keep me later.
I am in excellent spirits, but sorry I have such a poor hand.
I write this dispatch for security. Do not take it for a letter Please write
to my mother.
Fort Jones
My dearest Annie- October third / 5 3
You see how hard it is to make my thumb do its duty— I have no one here
to write for me but the devoted man who takes care of me and my room.
I will try him in French— not grammatical French, but mere French words
instead of English. He does not know a word of French, and so I can say
what I wish-
Full of love— my hand refuses to write a single word more.
Yr. devoted
B. R. Alden
[Written by amanuensis] October 3rd
You would be surprised to see how well and strong I am now but little
more than a month after the date of this wound in the muscles of my neck
&arm.
I tell you the sincere truth coloring nothing. It is really providential but
35^ California Historical Society Quarterly
I am to go home to you without resigning on an honorable furlough— who
would have thought it two months ago. I supose [sic] it will be six months
before I am redy [sic] for duty and where should I go but a votre cote [to
your side].
By the first of Nov. I hope to start for New York from San Francisco if
all danger of fever as [sic] left Nicaragua and Panama but if the fevour [sic]
should be there I would wait in San Fricisco [sic] till it was safe to venture.
I hope Major Alvord letter did not frighten you. He insisted on making
my wound as interesting bloody and terrible as possible. I was weak at that
time and could not stop him.
How much I wish to write in the freedom of my usual style but am ham-
pered by this lame hand. I am practising with my left hand but as yet do not
succeed.
Please write to my mother. I have not wrote [sic] to her for one month.
Here is my left hand trial for your amusement. With time it will do quite
well [! ?-Ed.]
Yreka, Cal.
My dear Annie— ' ' ^ ^
To my great joy and gratitude— yesterday I wrote you a letter with my
right hand and with so much ease that it proves that I have recovered the use
of my arm. This is a great joy—
I send this dispatch by Nicaragua, and the longer letter by the mail.^^
I shall be embarrassed when I get to San Francisco the 3d November (now
that my arm is well) to decide whether to wait there and enter upon busi-
ness, or to go home the 1 5th Novr. I shall resign however. How I long to be
with you, my dearest Annie
My dear Mrs. Alden, ^* ^^' ^^
The reports of Col. Alden's steady improvement have reached us in so
authentic a form that I have summoned heart to do now what I have desired
from the moment the intelligence of his mishap was received— and that is to
offer you my sincere congratulations not only on the Colonel's escape with
life, but on the event that put his life in jeopardy. In this, I find cause to
acknowledge what every one not wilfully blind must see almost daily, how
much better in the end Providence orders all for us than, with the best aids
to human sagacity, we can arrange them for ourselves. Had the earnest
wishes and apparently well concerted plans of the Col.'s friends been carried
into effect last year, he would have been kept at home, and thus have missed
an opportunity which might have caused him a life-long regret, and even
soured his later days— whereas now he quits the service after an action of
eclat, having for some time previously shared in all the discomforts of his
command, and having fairly won his honorary title of Colonel whilst leading
Letters of Bradford Ripley Alden 357
his men into battle. This is something which you must feel is worth the pur-
chase even by what the Col. has been called upon to endure. I now trust you
will soon have to add to this the happiness of having him home again, with
the consciousness that he has acquired the right to remain quietly there, so
long as no great emergency calls for the Country to put forth her full
strength for defence.
I have no news of any consequence which my wife has not already sent
you, except that your man John today consummated his breach of faith to
Mary Anne by marrying a waiting woman of Mrs. Lee. What a subject for
a ballad.
Believe me My Dear Mrs. Alden with the most sincere feelings of friend-
^^^^P Yours Most Faithfully
Mrs. (Col.) Alden D. H. Mahan^^
Lebanon, Penn. West Point Oct. 31st 1853
^, . Fort Vancouver Wash. Territory
Christmas n s
My dear Alden * ^ ^^
I have received to day a Christmas present from you in the shape of a
letter in your oivn handwriting. . . .
However persuaded I may be of the correctness of the step, it was with
a momentary pang of regret I saw your name effaced from the army list.
I shall hereafter style you Col. Alden, as you were elected Col. of that vol-
unteer battalion, & left the army in a blaze of glory with that honored rank.
I sent you by last mail an Oregon paper speaking of you in the kindest terms
—they rightly look upon you as a savior in Rogue River Valley. Well they
might, for I am satisfied that but for your super human exertions they might
have been all conquered. . . .
. . . Having about the 8 Sept. to write a public service letter to the Secre-
tary [of War, Jefferson Davis] about the interruptions in my explorations
on my road [see note 58], I concluded to give him a full statement, which
I could not do without bestowing ample praise or credit for your impor-
tant . . . brilliant services in that valley. So all in this quarter regard them.
. . . Genl. Lane's report (which I sent you directing to Lancaster) gave
you but faint credit on the whole— although I heard him dwell in a public
speech to the troops in very full and cordial terms of acknowledgment for
your services.
I inspect my road & wind up in May or June & hope by i September to be
in N. Y. to report for Recruiting Service— Such is my scheme. . . .
I am pleased to see you write that you are sanguine in reference to the
China investment.^^ From your meeting Dr. [? ] you doubtless learned more
about it. He also put $680 into it. I learn by this mail that my nephew reached
China (Canton) in 4^ days from San Francisco. I have not yet heard from
358 California Historical Society Quarterly
him. What an interesting affair that revolution in China? Big with great
events for all Asia, perhaps.
I like this post very much. I am constantly reminded of you here, of our
walks, fishing excursion, rides, etc. ... x^ *
^ Benj. Alvord
In his letter of April thirteenth, transcribed above, Captain Alden enumer-
ated some of the chances he would have should he resume civilian life—
"there are plenty of occupations out of the army as honorable, such as . . .
expressing oil or dipping into a sugar refinery. . . ." The years directly after
his return home were spent in trying to recover from his wound, which had
given rise to a partial paralysis; but in 1859, while on a visit to the place of
his birth, Meadville, Pennsylvania, this idea, in a modified fashion, took shape.
While there he became convinced of western Pennsylvania's petroleum re-
sources. Explorations, during which over forty artesian wells were sunk to
depths of 600-700 feet under his direction, showed the correctness of his
views, and his success in this and in real-estate investment enabled him and
his family to live in much comfort. In 1 861 at the news of civil war. Captain
Alden tried to re-enter the army but the trouble in his spine made it impos-
sible for him to ride and rendered him, during the later years of his life, an
invalid. This might have been avoided under modem methods of surgery.
However, if one recalls his admonition to his wife in his letter of April
twenty-first to cultivate a cheerful confidence ". . . with the spirit and tone
which enabled Percy [their small son] to take the rhubarb," one is certain
that this Indian fighter and man of many intellectual and artistic gifts, as well
as humor, knew how to engage his time. His death occurred on September
10, 1870, at Newport, at the age of fifty-nine.
NOTES
57. This was Robinson House, described in the Shasta Courier of Oct. 15, 1853, as
"probably the largest hotel north of Marysville." It was said to be owned and kept by
Dr. Jesse Robinson, formerly of Shasta City. The new item was occasioned by a visit
of local business men to Jacksonville, which they found "much better built than we
expected."
58. Lane (op. cit., p. 37) said he had "advised with Major Alvord, who was then pres-
ent, engaged in the location of the road from Myrtle Creek to Camp Stewart [Stuart?],
and immediately proceeded ... to the scene of the hostihties."
59. Capt. Morris S. Miller was attached to the Pacific division, 1852-55. (Cullum, op.
cit., I, No. 763.)
60. George Dart was one of the commissioners of military affairs appointed by Cap-
tain Alden at the outset of the struggle near Jacksonville. The others, as named by Lane
(op. cit., pp. 40-41) were Edward Shiel, Richard Dugan, and L. A. Davis (whom Ban-
croft, Oregon, II, 314, n. 11, calls L. A. Loomis). They were said by Alden in his report
to be "gentlemen having the confidence of the community."
61. See Ernest A. Wiltsee, Gold Rush Steamers (San Francisco, 1938), pp. 316 ff., for
Letters of Bradford Ripley Alden 359
an illustrated account of the hand-stamped covers of express and similar agencies— the
"letter-bag operators."
62. Dennis Hart Mahan (b. New York, 1802; d. Hudson River, 1871), was professor
of military engineering at the time that Captain Alden was commandant of cadets at
West Point. The account in Cullum, op. cit., I, No. 361, pp. 319-25, includes a discussion
of Mahan's books on fortifications, industrial drawing, descriptive geometry (which he
wrote in 1853), etc. If his technical style followed the grace and originality of this letter
to Mrs. Alden, no West Point student would have gone unillumined from his classes.
63. With the possibility of applying steam to the time factor in crossing the Pacific,
the Orient as seen from California began to take on an immensity of commercial size
way beyond its dimension under sailing ships. On Oct. 31, 1850, the Daily Pacific News
printed this item: " Notes on China.— Since we have become neighbors to the Chinese
. . . we desire to know more of them." Some three months later (Feb. 19, 1851), Ambrose
W. Thompson wrote to Frederick P. Stanton, chairman of the committee on naval affairs
of the House of Representatives, proposing to build ten steamships of not less than 3000
tons burthen, for the construction, equipment and armament of which he proposed that
the government should issue "a six per cent stock redeemable in ten years." These ships
were to constitute "a line of mail steamers between California and China, and between
Philadelphia and Norfolk, Va., and Europe." Thompson believed that steamers could
regularly make the voyage from San Francisco to China in twenty days. (Alvord, Cap-
tain Alden's correspondent, here mentions "^5 days''' under sails.) In the spring of 1853,
Thompson renewed his proposition in a memorial to both houses of Congress. This time
he suggested six instead of ten steamships. They were to be built as "war steamers." He
pointed out that the ports of the west were "open to the reception of that Asian com-
merce which made Tyre and Alexandria, Genoa and Venice in their succession, the
markets of the world. . . . San Francisco waits but a steam connection with China, to
enable her to surpass their commercial grandeur." (Reprints of Thompson's memorials
are in Collection of this Society.)
It is understandable why Alvord and Alden found Far Eastern news of such interest.
But it was not until 1865 that a steamship hne, carrying the mails monthly between San
Francisco and Chinese ports, was authorized by Congress, and not until 1867 that it was
placed in operation. (Bancroft, California, VII, 342-43.) The Shasta Courier, in an in-
land valley, kept in touch with such matters: On Oct. 22, 1853, it reported that San Fran-
cisco papers had received full files of Hongkong journals to Aug. 20th; the political news
from China was discussed— "the Tartar dynasty has certainly passed away"; Commodore
Perry's visit to Jeddo was mentioned and the fact noted that he had "delivered a letter
from President Pierce to the officers of his Imperial contemporary, the ruler of Niphon
[sic] "
Documentary
San Francisco. November 24, 1852.
Know all men by these Presents. That I Edward Minturn, for and in
consideration of the sum of Five dollars, to me in hand paid by James Cun-
ningham, do hereby covenant and agree to and with said James Cunning-
ham, to hold him harmless, sane and indemnify him from all claim, liability
or damage, that he may sustain, or suffer, by reason of any debt or debts,
contracted or due, and owing by the Steamer Senator, or on her account to
the day of the date hereof
Witness my hand and seal this 24th day of November A D 1852
Edward Minturn
T r P his attorney in fact
In presence of ^ » /
r • IT r^ T-. T Charles Minturn
[signed] Chas. D. Judah
(Original in Collection of California Historical Society)
Parker's San Francisco Directory for 1852-53 listed Chas. Minturn as steamboat agent,
3 1 Pacific, and also as commission merchant, Cunningham's wharf, which was said to be
between Vallejo and Green streets. No listing for Edward Minturn could be found. Two
years earlier (Kimball's Directory^ 1850), both James and Joseph Cunningham appeared
as with Amory & Co., sail maker, over the office of Law's Line of Pacific Steamers, Jack-
son Street wharf. According to E. A. Wiltsee, Gold Rush Steamers (San Francisco,
1938), pp. 47-48, George Law sold out his line on May 22, 185 1. As to the Senator, Jerry
MacMullen, Paddle Wheel Days in California (Stanford University, 1944), p. 56, says
it was always a popular ship and a net profit maker. Chas. D. Judah, associated with John
K. Hackett, was city attorney of San Francisco in 1852.
360
I
The Question of Sainsevain's Signature
By J. N. Bowman
IN the preceding (September) issue of this Quarterly, appeared a paper
by the present writer entitled "The Original California Constitution of
1 849," in which the statement was made that Pedro Sainsevain, member
from San Jose, was not among the signers of that document. Since publica-
tion of the above paper, some photographs have been found in the state
library at Sacramento which show Sainsevain's signature but are without
dates or indications of origin. Subsequent examination, however, has re-
vealed them to be photographs of the last page of the engrossed constitution,
and this short article takes up the question whether or not Sainsevain's sig-
nature, shown thereon, is real. A name does occur in the space where one
would have expected him to sign, but to the naked eye it appears to be in
pencil, not in ink. Has the ink of his signature faded?
The problem was presented to the division of criminal identification and
investigation of the department of justice. Sherwood Morrill, examiner of
questioned documents, inspected it chemically and microscopically, with
ultra-violet and infra-red lights, and by means of photography; his deter-
mination was that no signature in ink had been made, that no erasure had
been attempted nor an ink eradicator used, and that the name appearing on
the page was written in pencil. He also compared the writing with Sainse-
vain's signature in ink, affixed, within a few days of October 13, to the
"Address to the People of California." The penciled signature is not that of
this member.
The determination that Sainsevain did not sign the constitution raises two
questions, regarding ( i ) the origin of the penciled signature, and ( 2 ) the
reason for the failure of this member from San Jose to sign.
As to the first question, a study of the signature-page of the engrossed
constitution reveals most of the penciled name of Tefft, over which he had
signed in ink. Penciled lines still appear under the signatures of thirteen mem-
bers, and to the left and above three of these penciled lines the numbers 2,
22, and 35 are still visible. Robert C. Woodall, assistant archivist and custo-
dian of these documents, suggested the possible solution of the origin of the
names, lines, and numbers, namely, that they were placed on the page to
indicate to each member where he was to sign, in order to secure an equi-
table distribution of the names in their alphabetical sequence. A further
study shows this hypothesis to be correct: the signatures are quite evenly
distributed in three columns; the numbers, 2, 22, 35 indicate the alphabetical
order in which Botts, Jones, and Reid were to sign; and the names of Sainse-
vain and Tefft, in pencil, point to the proper spaces for their signatures.
Penciled names, lines, and numbers were evidently to be erased later.
361
362 California Historical Society Quarterly
The preparation of this page for the signature was probably done, at least
in part, by the engrosser, Hamilton, since the name of Sainsevain, written
hurriedly, bears much resemblance to Hamilton's careful writing in the
engrossed document; on the other hand, the penciled name, Tefft, strongly
resembles the writing of the official translator of the constitution into Span-
ish, W. E. P. Hartnell. The alphabetical order of the names is in keeping
with the sequence observed at vote-taking throughout the sessions, as re-
corded in the Journal of the convention. Also, the penciled name of Sainse-
vain is without his first name or its initial— it was either never written, or, if
written, has disappeared, from the handling the document has received dur-
ing the century. Moreover, the penciled name of this member is "Sanse-
vain," and not Sainsevain, as he wrote it on the Address, and as it appears in
1 860 at the end of his deposition in one of the private land-grant cases in the
U. S. District Court.
Why did Sainsevain not sign the constitution? This is not so easily re-
solved. He was not sworn in and seated until September 25; until October 4
his name occurs among those voting; on October 5 it is absent from the list
of voters, and, on the day following, he secured a leave of absence for ten
days on account of illness in his family. This period of absence extended
beyond the life of the convention.
The Address to the People of California had been proposed on September
27 but was not acted on until October 1 1, when a drafting committee of ten
members was appointed— among them Tefft. Two days later, the Address
was reported and adopted; the copy in the Journal of the convention is
without signatures, but the names of all members of the convention are given
in the copy published by Browne in his Report. Pedro Sainsevain signed the
Address, but H. A. Tefft, a member of the committee, did not. Apparently
Sainsevain signed between October 1 1 and 1 3, perhaps while on a short and
hurried visit to Monterey. But why Tefft did not sign is still not answered.
Unfortunately this penciled signature of Sainsevain has been widely ac-
cepted as authentic and has frequently been recognized even in official
publications.
Recent Californiana
A Check List of Publications Relating to California
Beebe, Lucius, and Charles Clegg
U. S. West: The Saga of Wells Fargo. New York, E. P. Dutton, 1949. 320 p. illus.
$7.50.
Caen, Herb
Baghdad-By-The-Bay. Garden City, Doubleday, 1949. ix, 275 p. illus. $3.50.
Clappe, Louise Amelia (Knapp) Smith
The Shirley Letters. With an introd. by Carl I. Wheat. New York, A. A. Knopf,
1949. 256 p. illus. $3.50.
CoLTON, Walter
Three Years in California. Ed. by Marguerite Eyer Wilbur. Stanford, Stanford
Univ. Press, 1949. xlix, 450 p. $5.00.
CoRLE, Edwin
The Royal Highway (El Camino Real). Indianapolis, Bobbs-Merrill, 1949. 351 p.
illus. $4.00.
Dickson, Samuel
San Francisco Kaleidoscope. Stanford, Stanford Univ. Press, 1949. 291 p. $3.50.
Hancock, Ralph
Fabulous Boulevard [Wilshire Boulevard] New York, Funk & Wagnalls, C1949. xiii,
322 p. $3.50.
Jackson, Joseph Henry
Bad Company. New York, Harcourt, Brace [1949] xx, 346 p. illus. $4.75.
Kipling, Rudyard
Letters From San Francisco. San Francisco, Colt Press, 1949. $6.00.
Lewis, Oscar
California Heritage. New York, Thomas Y. Crowell, C1949. vi, 186 p. illus. $5.00.
McGlashan, C. F.
History of the Donner Party. Stanford, Stanford Univ. Press, 1949. Ivii, 261 p. illus.
$3-50-
Shaw, Frederic, Clement Fisher Jr., and George H. Harlan
Oil Lamps and Iron Ponies; A Chronicle of the Narrow Gauges. San Francisco, Bay
Books Limited, 1949. 187 p. illus., maps. $5.00.
Taylor, Bayard
Eldorado. New York, A. A. Knopf, 1949. 416 p. illus. $5.00.
ToBiE, Harvey Elmer
No Man Like Joe; The Life and Times of Joseph L. Meek. Portland, Binfords &
Mort For the Oregon Historical Society, C1949. 320 p. illus., ports. $5.00.
3<^3
News of the Society
RECOLLECTIONS OF TEMPLETON CROCKER,
THIS SOCIETY'S FOUNDER
By Henry R. Wagner
I DO not remember exactly when it was that I first met Mr. Crocker but
I think it was in John Howell's bookstore, some time in 19 17 or 191 8.
I had heard of him in New York from dealers in American books, and at
the time our acquaintance began he was an avid collector, usually buying
everything on the subject that was sent him. Most of the years 19 19 and 1920
I spent in New York City. On my return to Berkeley in the latter part of
1920, 1 again met Mr. Crocker and began discussing with him the advisability
of organizing an historical society. The record of the first steps taken in the
spring of 1922 to reorganize the Society, with Templeton Crocker as presi-
dent, can be found in the first volume of the Quarterly (pp. 9-20, 1 07-1 10)
and were briefly retold by Anson S. Blake in his obituary of Mr. Crocker in
the Quarterly for March of this year, so I shall comment only on the less
familiar details.
As a means of procuring members the first year, Mr. Crocker suggested
that I write a short history of the proceedings leading up to the Society's
re-birth, and that John Henry Nash be asked to print it; he, Crocker, would
pay for it. Several hundred copies of eight pages were printed at a cost to
Mr. Crocker of $300. It met with success and we could at last begin operat-
ing. Miss Dorothy H. Huggins was made corresponding secretary. It should
be mentioned here that she officiated in that capacity as well as assistant
editor of the Quarterly until 1944, when she resigned to take a position
with the University of California Press. The success of the Society was due
more to her efforts than to any other person.
To publish a quarterly magazine was the only object in organizing a Soci-
ety. Turning it into a museum had been frowned on at the start and many
gifts of that character were rejected. Neither was money to be spent in the
purchase of books for the library and no professors of history were to be
elected as directors, the object being to prevent the use of the Quarterly
as an outlet for their own articles or those of their students, and thus limit
its interest to professional historians.
When we began to prepare material for the first volume of the Quar-
terly, the work devolved on Robert E. Cowan and myself. It proved no
easy task. Where were we to find something of value and interest to print?
Dr. Charles L. Camp edited a story of overland adventure by Charles Car-
dinell; Mary Floyd Williams wrote a piece on California local institutions
under Spain and Mexico; and Mr. Cowan one on auction sales of Calif or-
364
Neivs of the Society 365
niana. Then we were stuck. Finally, we decided to print an article I had
written on the discovery of California and which I had read at a luncheon
meeting on May 5, 1922, but still we did not have enough; so we decided to
include a documentary section. This device was used for a number of years
as it was a flexible one. Mr. Crocker owned some very valuable documents,
especially regarding the Bear Flag movement, and most of these we printed
for the next two years. They were originals and absolutely unknown.
Like all institutions of this character that are not supported by the state
or by large endowments, there was always a deficit at the end of the year.
As Christmas approached, I would figure out how much we needed to bal-
ance the accounts. The sum required was usually about $750. 1 would then
go to Mr. Crocker's oflice and tell him; whereupon, promptly and pleas-
antly, he would give me a check for the full amount. He continued this
practice for several years until finally two or three directors agreed to pay
part of the cost. Never have I met a man who gave up money more cheer-
fully than Templeton Crocker. Let there be no mistake: Mr. Crocker and
not I, as some of my friends insist, was the real founder of the California
Historical Society. Without his social position and wealth I could not have
made a go of it. He did not wish to be president and tried hard to avoid elec-
tion. When I was in Europe at the time of the annual meeting in January
1923, he persuaded the directors to elect me president. The news reached
me in Seville. I immediately wrote, declining to accept; I insisted that Mr.
Crocker should remain president. To this he finally agreed and continued
in that office for several years. Almost always he attended the directors'
meetings. As far as I know, however, he attended only one luncheon meet-
ing but did not preside. He said he could not talk on his feet at a public
gathering.
Templeton Crocker was the most indifferent— or perhaps casual is the
better word— man I ever met. On one occasion in 192 1, while he was still
interested in California books, he said he would like to see my collection, so
I invited him, and he came out and spent some time looking at prize volumes
of one kind or another which I had. He looked at them with a most indiffer-
ent air, usually without comment. After about two hours of this we were
both worn out and he went home.
In the early part of 1940, while on a visit to San Francisco and not having
seen Mr. Crocker for a number of years, I called his office on the telephone
and he told me to come to his apartment on Green Street that evening.
After we were comfortably seated, we began to reminisce about the early
days of the Society. Suddenly I thought about his books and rather imper-
tinently asked what he intended to do with them as they no longer seemed
to interest him. Without a particle of annoyance he said he had thought of
leaving his collection to the Society. Then I asked him if that was the case,
why not give them to the Society now? He thought a minute or two and
366 Calif ornia Historical Society Quarterly
said, "Very well, I will." Allen L. Chickering drew up a deed of gift which
Mr. Crocker signed, and thus the Society became owner of the collection.
Some of his larger pictures had been hanging in the Society's quarters since
its beginning, but he had a number of others at his house which he sent down
in batches from time to time for several months. The directors had the col-
lection appraised for insurance purposes at $67,000. I made out a small list
of the most important books; this was published in the Quarterly of March
1940 (pp. 79-81). Shortly afterwards, Mr. Crocker became ill, and I never
saw him again. He died on Sunday night, December 12, 1948.
Although the end was not unexpected, all his friends felt his loss deeply;
especially was this true of the early members of the Society who had come
in personal contact with him. Crocker was a rather slender man, not very
tall, and always in my relations with him he was good-natured: I doubt very
much that he ever became angry. I have written enough to show how gen-
erous he was. In time, he became rather proud of his association with the
Society, especially of his part in its resuscitation in 1922. Once, when we
were a little short of patron members, I asked him if he could not get some
more, as he knew everybody who had money— perhaps the chief requisite.
He smiled and said, "Oh, yes, I could get more members, but after a little
while those members will come to me and say, 'Mr. Crocker, we joined your
Society, and now we have one we want you to join.' Naturally, I cannot
refuse, and I calculate that it costs me less to pay the deficit of the Society."
News of the Society 367
Gifts Received by the Society
August 1, 1949, to October 31, 1949
BOOKS AND PAMPHLETS
From A. A. KNOPF-Smith, Louise Amelia (Knapp), The Shirley Letters from the
California Mines, 18^1-18^2. With an introd. and notes by Carl L Wheat. New York,
A. A. Knopf, 1949; Taylor, Bayard, Eldorado; or, Adventures in the Path of Empire . . .
Introd. by Robert Glass Cleland. New York, A. A. Knopf, 1949.
From AN ANONYMOUS DONOR-Course of Study for the Public Schools of
Humboldt County, California. Eureka, W. Ayres, 1881.
From BAY AREA COUNCIL, INC.-Lewis, Oscar, Within the Golden Gate. San
Francisco, The Council [1949]
From BETHLEHEM STEEL COMPANY-Its: 1849-1949, a Century of Progress.
San Francisco, Bethlehem Steel Co., Shipbuilding Division [ 1949] ; Collection of histori-
cally important press releases.
From BOBBS-MERRILL CO., INC.-Corle, Edwin, The Royal Highway (El Camino
Real). IndianapoUs, Bobbs-Merrill, 1949.
From MR. WILLIAM HARLAND BOYD-His: "The Holladay ViUard Transpor-
tation Empire in the Pacific Northwest, 1 868-1 893" reprinted from The Pacific Histori-
cal Review, v. 15, no. 4, December 1946.
From MR. HARRY J. BREEN— Semi-annual Trades Guide and Pacific Coast Direc-
tory, V. 4, no. 7, July 1874; Constitution and By-Laws of Knickerbocker Engine Com-
pany, No. $, San Francisco, New York, Francis & Loutrel, 1853; Annual Message of
Leland Stanford, Governor of the State of California, at the Fifteenth Session of the
Legislature, December, 1863; Calendar of the Twentieth District Court, in and for San
Benito County, Cal., December Term, 1878, Hon. David Belden, Judge, [HoUisterl
Hollister Enterprise Office, 1878.
From MR. GEORGE T. CAMERON-Caen, Herb, Baghdad-By-The-Bay, Garden
City, Doubleday, 1949; Jackson, Joseph Henry, Bad Cojnpany, New York, Harcourt,
Brace, C1949.
From CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS-Adams, James Truslow, ed.. Album of
American History. Volume V, Index. New York, C. Scribner's Sons, 1949.
From MR. R. H. CROSS-Historical Map of the East Bay, U. S. National Park Serv-
ice, 1936; Literature from the 1949 Convention State Bar of California; California His-
torical Society Papers, v. i, pts. i & 2; Papers relative to the Reber Plan; Collection of
pamphlets about Los Angeles.
From MR. WILLIAM DENMAN— ^ Symposium on Andrew Furuseth. New Bed-
ford, Mass., Darwin Press [1949]
From THE REVEREND SANDFORD FLEMING-His: God's Gold, the Story of
Baptist Beginnings in California 1849-1860. Philadelphia, Judson Press, C1949.
From THE FRIENDS OF THE BANCROFT USRKKY-The Treaty of Guada-
lupe Hidalgo February Second 1848. Edited by George P. Hammond. Berkeley, The
Friends of the Bancroft Library [1949]
From MR. VALLEJO GANTNER-McKittrick, Myrtle M., Salvador Vallejo, Last
of the Conquistadores. Arc2ita., 1949. [mimeographed]
From THE REVEREND MAYNARD GEIGER, O.F.M.-His: "Documents, Ques-
tionnaire of the Spanish Government in 181 2 Concerning the Native Culture of the Cali-
fornia Mission Indians." Reprinted from The Americas, v. 5, no. 4, April 1949; His: "The
Internal Organization and Activities of San Fernando College, Mexico City, 1734-1858."
Reprinted from The Americas, v. 6, no. i, July 1949.
From MR. GRAHAME H. HARDY-Beebe, Lucius, and Charles Clegg. Virginia &
368 Calif ornia Historical Society Quarterly
Truckee, a Story of Virginia City and Comstock Times. Rev. ed. Oakland, G. H. Hardy,
1949.
From MISS WINNOGENE PENNEY HARPOLD-Her: Through the Streets of
Old Chungking. New York, William-Frederick Press, C1947.
From MR. ROBERT F. HEIZER-^ Manual of Archaeological Field Methods . . .
Ed. by Robert F. Heizer. Millbrae, The National Press, C1949.
From MRS. EDITH NEWLANDS JOHNSTON-Darling, Arthur B., ed.. The
Public Papers of Francis G. Neivlands. Washington, D. C, W. F. Roberts, 1937.
From MR. EDMUND KINYON-His: The Northern Mines. Grass Valley, Union
Publishing Company [1949]
From A. T. LEONARD, Jr., M.D.— Hubbard, Elbert, Little Journeys to the Homes
of Great Reformers, Henry George. East Aurora, Roy crofters, 1907; Memorial Address
upon the Life and Character of Leland Stanford Delivered in the Senate of the United
States, Saturday, September 16, iS^s- Washington, 1893.
From MR. WILLIAM McDEVITT-His: Ambrose Bierce on Richard Realf, San
Francisco, Recorder-Sunset Press, 1948; Jack London as Poet and as Platform Man, San
Francisco, Recorder-Sunset Press, 1947; Jack London'' s First, San Francisco, Recorder-
Sunset Press, 1946.
From MR. DALE L. MORGAN-His: "Letters by Forty-Niners Written From
Great Salt Lake City in 1849" reprinted from Western Hujnanities Revieiv, v. 3, no. 2,
April 1949.
From MR. GLENDON J. RODGERS-His: Our Historic County of Kern. Bakers-
field [Merchants Printing and Lithographing Co.] 1949.
From MR. E. W. STADTMULLER-Our First 100 Years. [San Francisco] Wellman,
Peck & Co., 1949.
From MR. JOSEPH A. SULLIVAN— O^^w/ Yearbook and Souvenir, Ninety-first
Annual Convention International Typographical Union, Oakland, August 13 through
19, 1949.
From MR. ROBERT TAFT-His: "The Pictorial Record of the Old West": Charles
Graham, Rufus F. Zogbaum, Alfred E. Mathews. Reprinted from the Kansas Historical
Quarterly, v. 17, no. 2-3, May- August 1949.
From THE UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA-Coy, Owen C, In
The Diggings in Torty-Nine. Los Angeles, The California State Historical Association,
1948.
From MR. R. W. G. VAIL— His: Gold Fever, a Catalogue of the California Gold
Rush Centennial Exhibition. New York, New-York Historical Society, 1949.
From MR. W. E. WASTE— Ingram, Robert L., A Builder and His Family, 1898-1948;
Being the Historical Account of the Contracting, Engineering & Construction Career
of W. A. Bechtel. San Francisco, Privately Printed, 1949.
From MR. A. L. WEIL— Soule, Frank, et al. Annals of San Francisco. New York, D.
Appleton, 1855.
From LIBRARY OF PROF. E. J. WICKSON-Aiken, Ednah, The Hate Breeders,
Indianapolis, Bobbs-Merrill, C1916; The Hinges of Custom, New York, Dodd, Mead,
1923; If Today be Sweet, New York, Dodd, Mead, 1923; Clifford, Josephine, Overland
Tales, San Francisco, A. Roman, 1877; Linen, James, The Golden Gate, San Francisco,
E. Bosqui, 1869; Norris, Frank, The Octopus, New York, Doubleday, Page, 1903; Rattan,
Volney, A Popular California Flora, San Francisco, A. L. Bancroft, 1880; Rising, Law-
rence, Proud Flesh, Boni and Liveright, C1924; Shinn, Charles H., Pacific Rural Hand-
book, San Francisco, Dewey, C1879; Collection of pamphlets pertaining to San Francisco.
MAGAZINES AND NEWSPAPERS
From AN ANONYMOUS DONOR-Califomia Folklore Quarterly, v. i, no. i;
News of the Society 369
V. 5, no. I ; Geographical Review, Jan. 1934; Overland Monthly, v. 29, no. 169, Jan. 1897;
V. 41, no. 5, May 1903; v. 43, no. 6, June 1904.
From MR. GEORGE F. CORNWALL- T^e Timberman, an International Lumber
Journal, v. 50, no. 12, commemorating 50 years of service, and succeeding issues.
From MR. R. N. CURRENT-His: "The Original Typewriter Enterprise, 1867-1873"
in Wisconsin Magazine of History, v. 32, no. 4, June 1949.
From MR. F. HAL HIGGINS-His: "Beef Bids up Beets" in Sugar, v. 44, no. 9, Sep-
tember 1949.
From THE NAUTICAL RESEARCH GUILD-Its: Nautical Research Journal, v. i,
no. 1-3 and continuation.
From MR. A. L. WEIL-T^^ Occident, v. 31-32, no. 2, Aug. 20, 1896-Jan. 21, 1897;
Blue and Gold, 1895 -1898.
From LIBRARY OF PROF. E. J. WICKSON-P^^f/i^ Rural Press, v. 50, no. 1-26,
V. 51, no. 2-v. 54, July 3, 1920-Dec. 30, 1922; The California Farmer, v. 3, no. 19, May 10,
1855; The California Culturist, v. 1-2, June 1858-May i860.
From D WIGHT L. WILBUR, MB. -The Bulletin, San Francisco County Medical
Society, v. 22, no. 6, August 1949. (In Memoriam Ray Lyman Wilbur)
From MISS LOTTIE G. WOODS-The Wasp, v. 38, no. 9, August 29, 1896.
MANUSCRIPTS
From MRS. GENEVIEVE RIX BURRO WS-Daily Journal of Alfred and Chastina
W. Rix, July 1849-May 1857; Journal of My Journey to California, Chastina W. Rix,
Peacham, Vt. [ 1853] ; Collection of photographs and biographical data of the Rix family.
From MRS. RALPH COFFEY-Manuscript note to James G. Fair dated San Fran-
cisco, August 30, 1873; Assayer's report of the Consolidated Virginia Mining Company,
September 26, 1876.
From MISS ALICE FLINT-Autobiography of Edward Putnam Flint. Oakland,
September 4, 191 5. Typewritten.
From MR. J. N. KNOWLES— A manuscript copy of portions of Capt. Josiah Nick-
erson Knowles' diary of a voyage of the "Wild Wave"; Report of the wreck of the
"Wild Wave" in the New York Times; Capt. J. N. Knowles' account books for his voy-
ages on the "Wild Wave," "Expounder," "Charger," "Kentuckian" and "Glory of the
Seas"; Diary of Capt. J. N. Knowles on the clipper ship "Expounder" from Boston to
San Francisco, October 25th 1859 to March 13th i860; Copy book of letters from J. N.
Knowles to Messrs. Capen & Bangs of Boston dated January 31, 1854, ^^ February 4, 1858.
From MR. THOMAS KNO WLES-The diary of Captain Josiah Nickerson Knowles,
an account of the wreck of the "Wild Wave" on Oeno Island in the Pacific March 5,
1858, and the subsequent adventures of her master and crew on Pitcairn's Island; The
Golden Era, March 5, 1876, containing excerpts from the diary; Photographs of Captain
Knowles and Bounty Bay; Flag made by Capt. Knowles and flown on the boat which
they made and in which they escaped from the island.
From COL. HARRY N. KRENKEL— Manuscript documents relating to financial
affairs of John Xantus, Thomas Tennent, Parrott & Co., Charles P. Kimball, Thomas H.
Selby & Co., U.S. Dredger Redwood, and United States Treasury, San Francisco.
From MISS LOTTIE G. WOODS— Documents concerning a debt owed Carlos Bork
by William Parrott to be collected by Francisco and Jose Pellegrm; Baptismal record
of Eliza Leocadia Maria de Guadalupe Parrott y Comte; Four official documents dated
1852-55 relating to Theodor Johannes Lund, in Danish.
From COL. J. M. SCAMMELL— Negative photostats: Letter to the governor of Cali-
fornia from General Joseph Hooker, Washington, D. C, September 20, 1863; Letter to
Gov. F. F. Low from Colonel Arch. McKendry, Sacramento, March 7, 1866; Letter from
370 Calif ornia Historical Society Quarterly
J. W. Covarrubias relative to appointment of Don Antonio Maria de la Guerra, Santa
Barbara, April 27, 1864; Proclamation of Gov. F. F. Low issued at the death of A. Lincoln.
PICTURES AND MAPS
From MR. JAMES ABAJIAN— Six photographs of Greystone Winery at St. Helena,
California.
From MR. FRANK P. ADAMS-Map of Oakland and Vicinity. Oakland, Wood-
ward, Watson & Co., 1903.
From MR. E. W. BILLEB— Manuscript Map of Railway constructed and owned by
the Bodie Railway and Lumber Company, Mono County, California. Contains a certi-
fication of the line of route.
From MR. HARRY J. BREEN— Tinted photo copy of a painting of Richardson's
Bay. Artist unknown.
From MISS FLORENCE E. BROWNE-Photograph of John Ross Browne.
From MRS. RALPH COFFEY-Photographs: Mt. Davidson and Reservoir, Virginia
City, Nevada, 1875; Copy of a drawing of Virginia City.
From MRS. FRANKLIN HITTELL and MR. ELGIN HITTELL-A portrait of
Theodore Hittell painted in oils by his son Carlos.
From MR. J. A. LEERMAKERS— Copies of 23 photographs of California scenes
attributed to E. P. VoUum, M.D., U. S. Army, in 1859.
From MRS. NETTIE W. McFARLAND-A water color portrait of Daniel Well-
ington.
From MR. J. W. MAILLIARD, JR.-Six photographs: Juha McAllister, Mrs. Julian
McAllister, Mrs. Hall McAllister, Laura E. Richards.
From NEW-YORK HISTORICAL SOCIETY-Photostatic copies of cover and
plates 3,9, II of Album Calif orniano . . . Ferran y Baturone, Habana, which supplement
the Society's series of the original prints.
From MISS THERESE OLSEN-Photographic portrait of Joaquin Miller taken by
George Wilcox.
From MR. LOUIS L. STEIN— Photograph: The water front of Monterey from a
balloon, 191 2.
From MR. CHARLES ESTES VON RHEIN-Three photographs: Clarissa (Von
Rhein) Luce, Mabel Clara Luce, Roy Revelet Luce.
From MR. ALVIN C. WEINGAND-Three photographs: San Ysidro Ranch-Pine
Terrace cottages, Magnolia Cottage, and Old Adobe.
MISCELLANEOUS
From MISS LUCY ALL YNE— Collection of pamphlets, photographs, and other ma-
terials pertaining to San Francisco business firms, James Spiers, and Stanford University.
From MR. MARK LEWIS GERSTLE— Box of ivory poker chips made for a group
of pioneers who played poker at the home of John C. Livingston of Russian Hill during
the days of the Comstock Lode excitement.
From MRS. FRANKLIN HITTELL and MR. ELGIN HITTELL-The first type-
writer in California, used by Theodore Hittell; his mahogany desk; and an assorted col-
lection of historic photographs, newspapers, periodicals, and pamphlets.
From MRS. ANNA LOOMER— Hand carved molds for stamping designs on fabric,
used by Mrs. Emily Shand Dickieson, pioneer of Graniteville, Nevada County.
From MRS. SILAS H. PALMER— Seven historical scrapbooks compiled by Charles
Holbrook including the following subjects: education, politics, labor, health, agriculture,
and railroads.
From MR. C. H. RYAN— Three hubs consisting of two Liberty heads and one Eagle
News of the Society 3 7 1
used in making coins circulated in California during the 1850's, designed by D. B.
Kimmel.
From MR. D. J. RYAN— An account of the Nicholas Skerrett murder as told by Kd-
ward S. Sullivan in "Startling Detective Adventures," June, 1937. Typewritten.
From THE SUN-REPORTER— The series of articles "Early Pioneers of Negro
Origin in California's Gold Rush" appearing in issues of The Sun-Reporter through July
and August 1949.
From MR. A. L. WEIL— Germania Life Insurance Co. policy issued to Maria Poehl-
mann, September 11, 1866; Program Thirtieth Commencement University of California,
May 17, 1899; Documents relating to San Francisco Draft Boards in 1918.
From MR. LOUIS S. WERNER— His collection of thirty-six commemorative gold
coins minted of native gold of California, Alaska, Washington, Montana, Oregon, and
Idaho at the United States Mint, San Francisco; Queen Victoria and California medal,
1897; Panama Pacific International Exposition souvenir penny of California, 191 5; Cali-
fornia Midwinter Exposition souvenir token, 1894.
Meetings
On November 8, 1945, at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco, Thomas
Wayne Norris spoke before the Society on the California constitutional
convention of 1 849, dwelling on the inexperience of many of the delegates,
which did not, however, keep them from performing the work they had
been elected to do. On September 9, 1949, the centennial of the convention,
Mr. Norris was again luncheon speaker, this time at Casa Munras in IVIon-
terey, the town where the original deliberations took place.
The speaker has been making for many years an unusually fine collection
of western Americana (see catalogue issued by the Holmes Book Company
of Oakland, which lists only the items offered for sale, the manuscripts bear-
ing on the early history of the state being retained by Mr. Norris). Further-
more, from his birth and early schooling in Sonoma, his high school years in
Salinas and his business experience in San Francisco and in Livermore—
where, for over thirty years, he was president of the Coast Manufacturing
and Supply Co., purveyors of fuses, etc., for the various usages of gun pow-
der—together with his present residence in Carmel, he has a large familiarity
with the historic central area of the state.
Why was it necessary to hold a convention in Monterey in 1849? The
place was logical, because it was the administrative center of the province;
the necessity was logical, as the then-military governor, Bennett Riley, made
clear. His force was depleted by desertions to the mines. In the absence of
federal action, it was up to the residents of California to become responsible
for making and keeping the law, so that they wouldn't destroy one another.
Delegates were duly elected by the method devised by Riley, the aim being
that no district should shift answerability for the resulting law-making on
to some other district. Mr. Norris recounted, with amusing details, the diffi-
culty some of the delegates had in reaching Monterey, particularly the fog
bank which almost nullified the good offices of the Pacific Mail SS. Co. in
furnishing a vessel, the brig Fremont ^ for transportation of delegates board-
ing her at San Francisco.
The accommodations at Monterey were typical of frontier conditions-
no better, perhaps worse— but from the time of the first session on September
third until the gun (which delighted military-minded J. A. Sutter) was fired
from the fort guarding Monterey Bay on October 13, 1849, signifying that
a constitution had been born, no diminution of zeal on the part of the mem-
bers was allowed to interfere with the creative momentum they had estab-
lished among themselves at the start. This applied to the Spanish-speaking
members as well, even if they showed anxiety that there might be too liberal
an Americanizing of the country and tried at times to introduce measures
more peculiarly Spanish.
The question as to the size of the state— that is, the running of the eastern
Neivs of the Society 373
boundary— brought out the talents of geography-wise delegates, such as
L. W. Hastings, Jacob R. Snyder, and others, who had trapped the Sierra
Nevada on both its sides and who held that here was no trivial physical bar-
rier only, but a jurisdictional one as well. The question of a north-south
division, so as to make two states, was the fruit of the greatest query that had
agitated the whole country so far: should California be slave or free? It
wasn't simple, because, aside from their personal tenets as to slavery, upon
them lay responsibility for the strategy which would bring about admis-
sion into the Union. That was paramount— to end the chaos that was oc-
cupying the period between the local end of hostilities in the war with
Mexico and the establishment of a system of laws that would take the place
of interim prefects and interim alcaldes, operating under a military governor
who was without categorically fixed authority.
There were the to-be-expected animosities among the delegates. Snyder
thought that William M. Gwin, a sympathizer with the southern states, was
officious in pressing himself as convention president and his ideas as constitu-
tional model; James McHall Jones, a clever lawyer and a citizen, as he said,
"of nine days (the ordinary time it requires puppies to get as far as seeing),"
disliked H. W. Halleck who, to him, seemed "a man of no calibre, and in-
triguer with no tact, void of ability and ridiculous from self-conceit," an
opinion which has provoked defenders of both these gentlemen.
From the documents, etc., which Mr. Norris continues to unearth and
assimilate into his collection, and from which he selects items (for example,
two of delegate J. M. Jones' letters to his mother) for distribution in pri-
vately printed form among his friends at Christmas, may come more light
on the convention and its members. The Society will look forward to a third
talk by him when that time comes.
The paper read by H. M. Butterfield before the luncheon meeting of
October 13, 1949, on "Pioneer Builders of California's Horticulture," is
scheduled for publication as an article in the March 1950 Quarterly, and
will include his voluminous references to source material. In that issue, also,
will be a review of Col. Waddell Smith's address, given November 10, 1949,
on the subject of the eastern end of the Pony Express.
fn iEemortam
Morton Raymond Gibbons, Sr., M.D.
On November 8, 1949, Dr. Morton R. Gibbons, Sr. (b. San Francisco,
July 16, 1873), a member of this Society since May 1939 and one of its
directors for the past seven years, died at Stanford Hospital in San Francisco.
On another November day, six and a half decades earlier (November 5,
1884), his grandfather, Henry Gibbons, Sr., M.D., himself the son of a phy-
sician and who, from the time of his arrival in San Francisco during the
cholera epidemic of 1850, had practiced and taught and written on the sub-
ject of medicine, died at Wilmington, Delaware, in the room in which he
was born. This rounding out of a life's cycle with respect to place is an
instance of personal continuity. Continuity of a related kind is the fact that,
from his son Henry Gibbons, Jr., father of the Society's late member, on-
ward, the men of this family have, without a break, undertaken the older
man's regimen of practicing, teaching, and writing, as a glance at the record
shows.
There is space here for only two examples illustrating the similarity of the
way in which the minds of the grandfather and grandson worked in attack-
ing contemporary problems. Dr. Henry Gibbons, Sr., in his address before
the California State Medical Society at the expiration of his term as president
in 1872, took up the question of quackery. The state's law-making body was
showing a disposition to pass legislation making it unlawful for anyone to
assume the title of "doctor" unless educated in the regular way. There was
at the time some expression of opinion among doctors that they should ac-
tively come out in support of such legislation, but the speaker held that it
was a question whether, to use his own words, "it is politic in us to make the
effort. Our motives are here to be misconstrued. . . . Should the legislature,
representing the people, move in the matter, so be it. We will encourage, not
oppose. But until people and legislatures feel the evil and the need of a
remedy, the legislation which we might propose and obtain, would scarcely
be inforced."
In May 1930, his grandson, the subject of this obituary, in making the
presidential address before the same association at its fifty-ninth annual
meeting, dwelt particularly on the then-present tendency toward some form
of state health care. Reminding his associates that the esteem in which they
were held as a group had everything to do with the proper direction of the
changes which "many of us think are inevitable," he told them: "We will
be strong if we present the unbroken front of our common understanding
and our ethical cohesion. . , . Let us make ourselves the best informed group
on health insurance in California. Let us prepare our minds to join quickly
in furtherance of a sound plan when it is presented."
374
News of the Society 375
The assurance felt by both these doctors that acumen of sufficient force
was latent in the state of California for the bringing to pass of true progress,
shows how each practiced his profession with the aim of creating healthy,
discriminating minds as well as bodies; and it is easy to understand why our
recently deceased member went wholeheartedly into the work of the Com-
monwealth Club of California, of which he was president at the time of his
death.
As to avocations, both grandfather and grandson were interested in the
atmosphere. From 1850 through 1870, Dr. Henry Gibbons, Sr., kept scien-
tifically executed observations on the local rainfall and temperature, which
were published on pages 30-32 of the San Francisco Directory for 1 871; he
also worked out a theory for estimating the rainfall in other parts of the state
from the fall in San Francisco. His grandson, Morton R. Gibbons, Sr., was
interested in air in a practical, applied way. He built canoes and achieved the
requisite buoyancy; he fashioned sailboats, combining his skill in carpentry
with his knowledge of the way in which air can be harnessed efiiciently
within the area of a sail to bring about speed; and Mrs. Gibbions tells me that
because he liked historic things, he made her an exact replica of a 200-year
old spinning-wheel, with its special type of speed and efficiency. To use
Mrs. Gibbons own words: "But really, he could make any things
The compilation, Who^s Important in Medicine (New York, 1945), page
592, and the San Francisco Chronicle for November 10, 1949, give bio-
graphical information and list the numerous boards, commissions, and other
agencies on which Dr. Gibbons served throughout his career. I have given
here an informal sketch of his work from the historical point of view, as it
was his interest in the past which gave his fellow members in this Society the
grounds for their association with him and for elevating him to the warm
place he occupies in their affections. He was a responsible citizen, and
a fine friend. I might add that when he graduated from the University of
California, two classes before me, he held the rank of colonel of cadets.
In his immediate family. Dr. Gibbons is survived by his wife, Mary Stubbs
Gibbons, daughter of J. C. Stubbs, general manager of the Harriman lines;
by a son, Dr. Morton R. Gibbons, Jr.; and by two daughters, Beulah (Mrs.
James H. Allen) and Margaret (Mrs. Barrett G. Hindes). His writings, as
published in the California State Journal of Medicine, include, in 19 16, "In-
dustrial Accident Work" and "Social Insurance"; and in 192 1, "Return to
Work after Injury." In Modern Medicine for 19 19, appeared his "How Can
Medical Service Be Improved." . ^ ^
^ Allen L. Chickering
Mrs. Melville C. (Annie Rogers Fryer) Threlkeld, who joined this Soci-
ety in November 1942 and became a sustaining member in January of the
following year, died on May 23, 1949, in San Francisco. She was bom in
Shanghai, China, on December 21, 1870, of missionary parents, and during
376
California Historical Society Quarterly
the early years of her life lived in England. In 1887, she matriculated at
Alfred University, New York; later came residence in Oakland. Older mem-
bers of the faculty of the University of California will remember her father,
Dr. John Fryer, as the founder of the chair of oriental languages, from which
he retired with the rank of professor emeritus. After her marriage in 1 896,
Mrs. Threlkeld lived in Berkeley until 19 14, when the move was made to
San Francisco, and where she took a prominent part in its social and artistic
life and in its charitable organizations. Two brothers survive her: Dr. Charles
Fryer of Santa Barbara and George Fryer of Shanghai; also two sons, Mel-
ville C. Threlkeld, Jr., of San Francisco, and John H. Threlkeld of Carmel.
GIFTS OF REMEMBRANCE
Recent contributions, made to the Library Fund since the appearance of
the June 1949 Quarterly, have been received in memory of the following,
and their names are being inscribed in the Society's Book of Remembrance:
Edward Washington Bender
Hope Bliss
John R. Burns
Rumsey Campbell
Morton R. Gibbons, Sr., M.D.
Abraham P. Hankes
George Dunlap Lyman, M.D.
LaVeme Scott Moss
Robert J. Parker
Ann May Perry
Mabel Gray Potter
William C. Sharpsteen
John Joaquin Smith
L. Deming Tilton
Harry C. Warren, M.D.
Ray Lyman Wilbur, M.D.
Name
James de Tarr Abajian
Mrs. Alice M. Allen
Mrs. Herbert W. Allen
Charles R. Barnum
Howard S. Bucquet
Mrs. William E. Chambers
Ted K. Clark
Mrs. William C. Coffill
Mrs. Isabel Porter Collins
Miss Cecelia Cornell
Miss Etta Cornell
Guy Crow
Mrs. Helen Baker Currie
Miss Evelyn M. Dulfer
McDowell V. Eastman
Brantley M. Eubanks
Peter S. Forrest
B. R. Funsten
Mrs. Harry Gabbert
Henry Walter Gibbons, M.D.
New Members
Active
Address
San Francisco
Larkspur
San Francisco
Eureka
San Francisco
New York City
Monterey
Sonora
Sausalito
Fair Oaks
San Francisco
Madera
Salinas
San Francisco
Los Angeles
Piedmont
San Francisco
San Francisco
Berkeley
San Francisco
Proposed by
Mrs. Rogers Parratt
Miss Florence A. Williams
Membership Committee
Warren R. Howell
Mrs. F. P. Howard
Miss Caroline Wenzel
Aubrey Drury
Donald L Segerstrom
Membership Committee
Miss Etta Cornell
Membership Committee
Walter Chandler
Paul P. Parker
Miss Frances Molera
Daniel G. Grant, Jr.
Gardiner Johnson
Lee L. Stopple
Miss Else Schilling
Mrs. Rogers Parratt
Morton R. Gibbons, M.D.
Name
Woodard A. Glover
Mrs. Eldridge Green
D. Hanson Grubb
Mrs. Charles H. Holbrook
A. V. Holman
William Jeffery
Hugh S. Jewett
Philip C. Knapp
Ivy Lee, Jr.
Miss Patricia Loomis
Milbank McFie
L. M. McKinley
Herbert C. Moffitt, Jr., M.D.
Frank G. Murdock
Alan C. Nichols
Floyd H. Nourse
Mrs. Matthew D. O'Brien
Mrs. Viola M. Priest
Mrs. Louis Chapman Ralston
Frazier O. Reed
C. T. Reichhold
R. O. Reynolds
B. J. Richards
Albert E. Schlesinger
Russell Scott
Howard Van Arsdale Smith
J. E. Wallace Sterling
Charles A. Tegner
Gordon Tevis
Max Thelen
Herbert Thompson
Dwight K. Tripp
Carl B. Wahlund
Mrs. Clinton Walker
W. E. Waste
Martin John Weil
Mrs. Marie Williams
George E. Wolff
Edward G. Zelinsky
Marginalia
Address
Capitola
Piedmont
San Francisco
San Francisco
Palo Alto
Salinas
Bakersfield
San Francisco
San Francisco
San Jose
Los Angeles
San Francisco
San Francisco
Berkeley
San Francisco
San Mateo
Oakland
Berkeley
Carmel
San Jose
Walnut Creek
Los Angeles
Dayton, Ohio
San Francisco
Salinas
Encinitas
Stanford
Santa Monica
Sonoma
San Francisco
San Francisco
San Francisco
Oakland
Piedmont
San Francisco
Los Angeles
Lafayette
San Anselmo
San Francisco
Marginalia
377
Proposed by
Livingstone Porter
Membership Committee
Membership Committee
Miss Florence Keene
Harry L. Simpson
Paul P. Parker
Dwight L. Clarke
Mrs. Clara Benbow Hope
John G. Rogers
Membership Committee
Austin H. Peck, Jr.
Loren B. Taber, M.D.
John G. Rogers
A. C. Steven
Mrs. Rogers Parratt
Karl F. Brown
Membership Committee
Miss Florence Keene
Miss Rowena Beans
WiU B.Weston
Ralph M. Hinds
Austin H. Peck, Jr.
Lewis Lengfeld
Membership Committee
Paul P. Parker
E. Denys Rowe
Mrs. Donald Tresidder
Membership Committee
Membership Committee
Gardiner Johnson
Membership Committee
George H. Kress, M.D.
D. L. Rigden
Allen L. Chickering
K. K. Bechtel
A.L.Weil
Mrs. Emma Kessler
Allen L. Chickering
Warren R. Howell
Biographical notes on the authors represented in this issue who have writ-
ten previously for the Quarterly may be found in the following numbers:
J. N. Bowman, Dec. 1946, p. 379, and June 1949, p. 188; C. M. Drury, June
1947, p. 187; Hart H. North, March 1948, pp. 91-92; Henry R. Wagner,
Dec. 1946, pp. 378-79.
Miss Annie R. Mitchell is a native of the old mining camp of Tailholt in
378 Calif or?iia Historical Society Quarterly
Tulare County, where her grandparents, Levi Mitchell and his wife, had
established a store and hotel and where Miss Mitchell's parents were born.
At present Miss Mitchell is teacher-counsellor at Visalia Union High School,
and she acts also as secretary of the Visalia Historical Society.
Following his graduation from the Iowa State Teachers College in 1904,
Reginald R. Stuart began a teaching career of forty-four years, mostly in
the Oakland public schools. He is now engaged in the collection of a library
of western Americana at his home in San Leandro.
Among Our New Members:
Charles R. Barnum is a native of Eureka, where his interests are now cen-
tered in the timber business and in real estate. His paternal grandparents,
Gorham N. and Lorraina Moore Barnum, came to Humboldt County in the
early 1850's. The county which first attracted them has become the nucleus
of the present Mr. Barnum's library of Californiana, with an overlap of in-
terest into Del Norte County, western Trinity and northwest Mendocino.
On page one of the present volume of the Quarterly (March 1949; M. B.
Stem on Anton Roman), mention is made of Burgess, Gilbert & Still, pio-
neer booksellers of San Francisco. Mrs. William Ely Chambers (Hazel Nes-
bitt Chambers) is Still's granddaughter. He was born in 1827 in New York
and twenty-two years afterwards (Sept. 16, 1849) arrived in California on
the Griffin. Subsequent San Francisco directories (viz., Parker's for 1 852-53)
show him without partners as bookseller, stationer and as periodical and
publication agent, with various changes in address. Still died on board the
steamer Gambia at Colon, August 16, 1876. A brief account of his life may
be found in the "Archives" of the Society of California Pioneers, VI, 278.
From his birthplace (1871) in South Carolina, Ted K. Clark went north
and then west to Minneapolis. He attended the University of Minnesota;
then followed twenty-three years in the army. In 1929 he came to Monterey
where he has since lived, engaged in real estate and insurance. Colonel Clark
is a director of the Monterey History and Art Association, founded in 193 1
through the enthusiasm of Mrs. Laura Bride Powers. He is also secretary of
the Monterey Foundation.
Mrs. William C. Coffill is the daughter of Donald I. Segerstrom and grand-
daughter of Charles Homer Segerstrom, former mining expert and banker
of Sonora, whose obituary appeared in the December 1946 Quarterly, pp.
376-77. Mrs. Coffill is a Stanford graduate (class of 1938), specializing on
history and psychology, and has also collected early American glass from
the mother-lode region, "as a side Hne"— to quote Mrs. Coffill. This would
seem to be of more than ordinary side-line interest to the rest of us.
As a teacher in the public schools of the state for thirty-eight years, the
.
Marginalia 379
last twenty-five of them in Vallejo, Mrs. Isabel Porter Collins (b. Petaluma,
March 6, 1878) must have seen a good many theories applied to the field of
education which in some instances have threatened the underpinning of the
"three R's." We have an idea that they are none too safe even yet, despite
some recent ringing utterances in their defense.
Both B. M. Eubanks and his wife are continuing an interest in the history
of California gained from courses under Herbert E. Bolton and William
Paden. This has included study of books and of the actual terrain of histori-
cal country, as practiced by these two teachers. But Mr. Eubanks has gone
beyond the gold-bearing terrain's surface and sub-surface endowment by
following the precious metal into its coinage, collecting examples of same,
and studying the personalities engaged in the work.
Mrs. Harry Gabbert (Florence Doyle Gabbert) is the granddaughter of
Ole Bergson, a Norwegian contractor of San Francisco, and his wife
Augusta Elizabeth Kuchel, daughter of Conrad Kuchel whose brother,
Charles C, was associated with Emil Dresel in the famous firm of Kuchel &
Dresel, San Francisco lithographers. The Bergsons' daughter Emma married
Michael J. Doyle, father of the Society's new member. The descendants of
Conrad Kuchel have been connected with Anaheim for many years, Charles
Kuchel being editor and proprietor of the Anaheim Gazette.
Mrs. Helen LeVere Green Halloran (see new members, Sept. Quar-
terly) is the granddaughter of Theodore Green, himself a descendant of
of Revolutionary War stock, who came to California in 1 849. After several
years, he returned to New York to marry Maria LeVere and bring her and
their cherry-wood furniture, silver, and linens to Austin, Nevada, where
they established their home. Mr. Green was a pharmacist by profession. The
stone building which housed his drug store for many years was later con-
verted into Austin's railroad station. Mrs. Halloran's father, Franklin Theo-
dore Green, was bom in North San Juan on May 5, 1863, while his parents
were sojourning in California. He took up his father's profession of phar-
macy and rose to be designated as dean of the College of Pharmacy, one of
the state university's affiliated colleges. His wife was M. Georgia Rooker,
daughter of Gen. James E. Rooker of Austin, who was then the head of the
state militia and co-owner with Gov. L. R. Bradley of ranch property along
the Reese River. The Society's new member was born in Austin. She is a
member of the Daughters of the American Revolution and has held impor-
tant offices in that organization.
The great-grandfather of Kenneth C. Hinrichsen, listed in the September
Quarterly, was Abner Bryan, a pioneer of 1 845 who is mentioned in Ban-
croft's pioneer register (Calif ornia, II, 734). In 1846, having returned to the
east in the meantime, Bryan brought his family to California, and, upon the
death of his wife on the overland route, married Lydia Swain Adams whose
380 Calif ornia Historical Society Quarterly
husband also had died on the way west but whose son, David L. Adams,
aged ten upon arrival, lived on in California (Bancroft, ibid., p. 687). Ac-
cording to Mr. Hinrichsen, Abner Bryan and his second wife settled on a
ranch at Oso Flaco, not far from Guadalupe in San Luis Obispo County.
Mr. Hinrichsen's grandmother, Mary Bryan, was one of their children. She
married Ephraim Francis Conrad and lived most of her life in Arroyo
Grande, where many of her descendants still live. Mr. Hinrichsen's master's
thesis (U. C, 1949) describes the work done by the Canadian George Chaf-
fey and by Dr. Cyrus G. Baldwin in the field of hydroelectric power in
southern California.
Floyd H. Nourse (b. Ohio) first knew California in 1908 as a buyer for
the book department of the Emporium in San Francisco, and for many
years thereafter he acted as Pacific coast representative of New York pub-
lishing houses. Mingling with and knowing western writers has increased
the interest he had, already, in the state's history.
On file in the library of the Society is a detailed account of the forebears
of Mrs. Matthew D. O'Brien (Elizabeth Glenn O'Brien), daughter of Alex-
ander Glenn and Virginia Chinn Glenn. The wedding of the latter couple
took place in San Francisco at the home of Leonidas Pratt, husband of the
bride's aunt, the former Armeda Jessup. Glenn was owner of the Columbus
Buggy Co. in San Francisco, and of a stable of fine horses to show off his
equipages. In 1905 Glenn sold his business to Studebaker and went into
farming in San Luis Obispo County and elsewhere. Mrs. O'Brien's maternal
grandfather, James Weeks Chinn, was a descendant of Raleigh de Cheyne
(whence "Chinn"), brother-in-law of Mary Ball, President George Wash-
ington's mother. Chinn arrived in Hangtown in 1850 and thereafter took up
mining and merchandising in Sacramento and in Ophir, Placer County, and
also held county offices there and in Nevada County. His wife was Elizabeth
Jessup whose sister, Mrs. Pratt, was mentioned above. They were daughters
of Austin Jessup of Palmyra, N. Y. Previous to her marriage. Miss Elizabeth
Jessup had taught school near Colusa. The Chinns' experiences in the mining
community of Iowa Hill, Placer County, following the year 1866, are set
forth in Mrs. O'Brien's account of her family. Three years ago she was able
to purchase back the scales, with their brass weighing pans, used by her
grandfather in measuring gold.
Alden Radcliffe, maternal grandfather of Mrs. Viola M. Priest, arrived in
California in the early 1 850's by way of the isthmus and in 1858 was married
to Elizabeth Gross, who had traveled west by the same route. The ceremony
was performed by the Rev. E. S. Lacey of the First Congregational Church
in San Francisco. Mrs. Priest's paternal grandfather, William Cooke, and
his wife, the former Lucy Rutledge, came overland from Iowa in 1852 and
spent most of their lives in Dutch Flat, Placer Co., where Mrs. Priest's
Marginalia 3 8 1
parents as well as she herself were born. Her grandmother Cooke's letters.
Crossing the Plains in 18^2, were set in type by the students of Frank W.
Cooke, professor of journalism at the Modesto High School, and were
bound into a booklet for limited distribution. Supplementing Mrs. Priest's
natural interest in the state has been her typing of "literally hundreds" of
theses written by the pupils of Herbert E. Bolton; and the same services were
performed for some of Dr. Bolton's own writings preparatory to pubUcation.
We had in mind the new president of Stanford University when we wrote
above that there had been ringing utterances lately in defense of what the
"three R's" stand for. During exercises in connection with his inauguration,
October 6-7, 1949, J. E. Wallace Sterling (Ph.D., Stanford, 1938), spoke out
boldly in favor of thoroughness in the successive stages we must go through
if we want to be civilized— disciplined in character as well as in knowledge.
Dr. Sterling was bom in 1906 in Linwood, Ontario, Canada. He received his
education and taught in Canada until 1935-37 when he joined the staff of the
Hoover war library at Stanford. Thereafter he taught history at the Cali-
fornia Institute of Technology, interspersing his teaching with writing on
Canadian and British affairs and acting as news analyst for the Columbia
Broadcasting Co. Just prior to election to his present high office he was
serving as director of the Huntington Library and Art Gallery.
Howard Van Arsdale Smith's maternal grandfather, J. A. Van Arsdale,
and his wife crossed the plains in 1862 from St. Joseph, Mo. Their son, the
uncle of the Society's new member, was William Wilson Van Arsdale, a
graduate of the University of California with the class of 1874, who became
influential in the lumber business, owning, besides, the Ridgewood Ranch in
Mendocino County (see William Carey Jones, Illustrated History of the
University of Calif ornia, San Francisco, 1895, p. 348). Howard Van Arsdale
Smith spent two years at the state university, then entered the employ of the
Standard Oil Co. of California. From January 1937 through August 1942,
he was project superintendent for the restoration of Mission La Purisima
Concepcion and has been interested likewise in the restoration of Mission
San Fernando. Mr. Smith is an avocado grower in northern San Diego
County, finding time also for botanizing trips in the mountains and deserts
of that county, in search of unusual flora.
William E. Waste (b. Berkeley, July 31, 1897), son of the late Chief Jus-
tice William H. Waste of the California Supreme Court and graduate of the
University of California, class of 19 19, undertook upon graduation the re-
sponsibilities of office boy for the American Trading Company, operators
of tramp steamers to Australia, New Zealand and Japan. From this lowly
rung he has risen steadily to the responsibility of his present position of vice-
president of Bechtel Corporation, world-wide engineering and construction
firm, through proficiency in such immense projects as the Boulder Dam, the
382 California Historical Society Quarterly
east bay piers of the San Francisco-Oakland bay bridge, the California Ship-
building Corporation at Terminal Island near Los Angeles, and the Marin-
ship Corporation at Sausalito.
Martin J. Weil, the son of A. L. and Florence Greenebaum Weil of Los
Angeles, is a graduate of Stanford and of the Harvard Law School. He is
also a lieutenant commander in the U. S. naval reserve, and during the last
war saw service in the Marshall Islands. At present he is associated with his
father in the practice of law in Los Angeles.
Well-known musical names find an important place in any biographical
note on Mrs. Marie Williams (Mrs. James G.). Her maternal grandparents
were Max and Katherine Homeier, arrivals of 185 1— she as a singer and pro-
fessional yodler, and he as a zither player and music teacher. Their son, Louis
Homeier, became an orchestra leader whose name appears in the list of
musical events in San Francisco in the i88o's (viz.. An Anthology of Music
Criticism [San Francisco: W. P. A., 1942], pp. 156-69, 426, 429, 439). Louis
Homeier's sister was Mrs. Williams' mother, a native (1856) of Yankee Jim,
Placer County. Preceding the family to California was Mrs. Williams' great
uncle, Frantz Oettel, who went to Sonoma and became proprietor of the
Union Hotel. Genius of another kind in Mrs. Williams' family contributed
to the physical appearance of San Francisco, namely, through her husband,
James G. Williams, who as a structural steel contractor was connected with
work of this type on the Pacific Telephone and Telegraph and the Russ
buildings, to mention two examples.
On October 12, 1949, at her residence in Orinda, Mrs. Wallace M. Alex-
ander was at home to a large company of her friends, including several
members of this Society, in honor of her father, Timothy Leonard Barker,
and his associates on board the bark Belvidere. Just a hundred years ago, to
the day, they arrived in San Francisco— "For the land we never saw before,
must be our home," as a verse from the fiftieth-anniversary leaflet, which
Mrs. Alexander had printed for that occasion, expressed it. At the 1949 cele-
bration were to be seen a model of the ship; a painting of Mr. Barker, on loan
from the collection of the Society of California Pioneers, of which he was
a member; and a photostat of the Belvidere^ s passenger list, as it appeared in
eastern papers on the date of sailing. The photostat was secured for Mrs.
Alexander by Mr. James Moffitt, from the original clipping in the collection
of the California Historical Society. Mr. Barker's companions on the voyage
were: William M. Eddy, Hiram T. Grimes, Dr. W. A. Grover, Andrew J.
Haight, and Worthington S. Lyon. Descendants now living are: Mrs. Helen
Grover Burpee of Palo Alto, Herman Hall Eddy of Santa Barbara, and
Harvey B. Lyon of Lafayette.
CALIFORNIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Incorporated March 6, 1886 Reorganized March 27, 1922
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Aubrey Drury, President
Joseph R. Knowland, First Vice-President
Morton R. Gibbons, Second Vice-President
Francis P. Farquhar, Third Vice-President
Warren Howell, Secretary
George L. Harding, Treasurer
K. K. Bechtel Allen L. CfflCKERiNC Mrs. Elizabeth Gray Potter
Garner A. Beckett Ralph H. Cross Porter Sesnon
Anson S. Blake A. T. Leonard, Jr. Mrs. Daniel Volkmann
Co?mnittee on Special Publications: Francis P. Farquhar, Chairman; Allen L. Chick-
ering, William W. Clary, George L. Harding, Miss Caroline Wenzel, Carl I. Wheat,
Lynn T. White, Jr.
Conmiittee on Membership and Publicity: Joseph R. Knowland, Chairman; Aubrey
Drury, Henry F. Dutton, Morton R. Gibbons, Edgar M. Kahn, George H. Kress,
Miss Else Schilling, Joe G. Sweet.
CoTmnittee on Luncheon Meetings: Anson S. Blake, Chairmxtn; Mrs. Mae Helene
Bacon Boggs, Mrs. Georges de Latour, Aubrey Drury, Morton R. Gibbons, Mrs. James
Jenkins, Mrs. Gerald D. Kennedy, Mrs. Alice B. Maloney, Loren B. Taber, Mrs.
Daniel Volkmann.
Committee on Rooms and Exhibits: Warren H[owell, Chairman; Mrs. A. J. Bancroft,
A. T. Leonard, Jr., Miss Frances M. Molera, Albert Shumate, Lee L. Stopple, Mrs.
J. J. Van Nostrand.
Committee on Historic Names and Sites: A. T. Leonard, Jr., Chairinan; Mrs. Mae
Helene Bacon Boggs, Clarence Coonan, Ralph H. Cross, Edgar B. Jessup.
Committee on Library and Gifts: Ralph H. Cross, Chairman; Mrs. Mae Helene
Bacon Boggs, Miss Edith Coulter, Augustin S. Macdonald, Thomas W. Norris, Ed-
ward Porter Pfingst, A. T. Shine, Chester W. Skaggs, Mrs. J. J. Van Nostrand, Leon
Whitsell.
Committee on Finance: K. K. Bechtel, Chairman; Allen L. Chickering, Francis P.
Farquhar, C. R. Tobin, Mrs. Daniel Volk2vl\nn.
Patron Members
Mrs. Wallace Alexander
Miss Edith W. AUyne
Miss Lucy H. Allyne
K.K.Bechtel
Mrs. Irving Berlin
Anson S. Blake
Mrs. M. H. B. Boggs
Mrs. William Cavalier
Allen L. Chickering
William W. Crocker
Mrs. Edward L. Doheny
Sidney M. Ehrman
Mrs. Sidney M. Ehrman
James Flood
Raymond C. Force
Miss Margaret A. Jacks
CO. G.Miller
Henry D. Nichols
Mrs. William B. Roth
Mrs. Henry Porter Russell
Miss Else SchiUing
Rudolph SchilHng
Porter Sesnon
Tallant Tubbs
Mrs. Daniel Volkmann
Miss Johanna Volkmann
Willard O. Wayman
Mrs. John Payson Adams
Mrs. Merritt Adamson
Hugh S.Allen
Mrs. Leonora Wood Armsby
John B. F. Bacon
Philip A. Bailey
Wakefield Baker
Mrs. William P. Baker
Paul Bancroft
Philip Bancroft
Bank of America
Gamer A. Beckett
Mrs. Frank Bennett
Miss Hope Bliss
Leon Bocqueraz
John D. Bradley
J. R. Brehm
Mrs. Julia Fox Brooke
Mrs. Carlton Bryan
W. S. Burnett
Sustaining Members
Mrs. George Cadwalader
George T. Cameron
Mrs. Henry Cartan
Selah Chamberlain, Jr.
Harold S. Chase
Bruce Church
Mrs. Edmond D. Coblentz
Mrs. John Phihp Coghlan
Peter Cook, Jr.
Frederick C. Cordes, M.D.
Mrs. Talmage Burton Crane
Ralph H. Cross
Homer D. Crotty
Mrs. Richard Y. Dakin
Edward A. Dickson
Lloyd Dinkelspiel
Mrs. Hugh T. Dobbins
Miss Christine Donohoe
T. G. Douglas
Aubrey Drury
Henry F. Dutton
Stanly A. Easton
Mrs. Camille J. Ehrenfels
Amos W. Elliott
Herbert Eloesser
Charles Elsey
Mrs. Milton H. Esberg
Harry H. Fair
Francis P. Farquhar
James Farraher
Paul B. Fay
H. G. Fenton
Roland C. Foerster
C. E. Fryer
Morton R. Gibbons, M.D.
Mrs. Frank R. Girard
Albert H, Gorie
Mrs. Joseph T. Grace
Allen Griffin
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